Joseph P. Abrahamson

Joseph P. Abrahamson is from the Pennsylvania anthracite coal region, where his interests in carbon-rich materials and fuels were born. When Abrahamson studied mechanical and energy engineering as an undergraduate, he became fascinated with a petroleum processing class taught by Professor Semih Eser. Fueled by the wonder of petroleum processing, he got his M.S. degree under Eser’s guidance, studying all things related to carbon enrichment and then furthered his studies with Professor Randy Vander Wal to expand his carbon knowledge.

After graduate school, Abrahamson worked briefly on the West Coast as a technology development engineer for Intel before returning to Pennsylvania to join Morgan Advanced Materials’ Carbon Science Centre of Excellence(CoE) as a materials scientist at Penn State Innovation Park. Eventually, Abrahamson moved to a business role at MilliporeSigma and became the global franchise product manager for carbon technology and low-pressure liquid chromatography products. While at MilliporeSigma he completed his M.B.A. from West Chester University in Pennsylvania.

Last August, he accepted the lead position of Morgan Advanced Materials’ CoE. He is honored to hold this position, as the CoE and the Morgan name are built on a great carbon legacy—one that the CoE and Penn State are ready to uphold and surpass.

Abrahamson’s previous technical academic degrees (up to his Ph.D.) are from Penn State. He considers himself very lucky to have been a Carbon Materials Program student, as carbon science is said to have been born at Penn State in the 1950s, thanks to the father of carbon science, Professor Phil Walker Jr.