Steven M. Cramer is an Institute Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he has been a faculty member since 1986.

Dr. Cramer is the principal investigator of the Cramer Research Lab at RPI. Over the past 38 years, the Cramer lab has focused on the state of the art of downstream bioprocessing and its successful implementation for the biomanufacturing of biological products. The lab has developed adsorption isotherms for various classes of protein chromatography (e.g., steric mass action model for ion exchange) that have enabled the prediction of complex non-linear protein chromatographic behavior in a range of systems and which, along with other technologies developed in the lab, have been employed around the world by the biotechnology industry. The 60 PhD graduates from the Cramer lab have had a significant impact, with many of Dr. Cramer’s former students now playing key leadership roles in the state of the art of industrial bioprocessing at most of the major biopharmaceutical and bioseparations companies worldwide as well as in academia.

In addition to his focus on downstream bioprocessing, Dr. Cramer is widely known for his expertise in separations in general. He served as the editor of the journal Separation Science and Technology for 20 years. Dr. Cramer has received numerous awards, including the Award in Separations Science and Technology and the BIOT Division’s Michaels Award in the Recovery of Biological Products from the American Chemical Society, the Gaden Award from the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering, and several awards from RPI, including the Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award and the School of Engineering Outstanding Professor and Research Excellence Awards.

He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2023. In addition to the NAE, Dr. Cramer is a member of UT Austin’s Academy of Distinguished Chemical Engineers and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Chemical Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He currently serves as the engineering councilor on the AAAS Council. He has 11 issued patents and has published extensively in the top peer-reviewed journals in the field, with more than 250 publications.

He received a BS in biomedical engineering from Brown University and an MS and a PhD in chemical engineering from Yale University.