Daeyeon Lee is the Russell Pearce and Elizabeth Crimian Heuer Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University and his PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT. His research explores the interactions of soft materials at interfaces, with the goal of developing innovative processes and structures with applications in healthcare and environmental sustainability. He has been recognized for excellence in research with several awards, including the 2010 Victor K. LaMer Award, an NSF CAREER Award, the 2013 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, the 2013 AIChE NSEF Young Investigator Award, the 2014 Unilever Award for Young Investigators in Colloid and Surface Science, the 2017 Soft Matter Lectureship Award, and the 2023 Outstanding Achievement Award in Nanoscience. He has also been acknowledged for his contributions to education with awards such as the Penn CBE Distinguished Teaching Awards and the 2017 S. Reid Warren, Jr. Award, and he held the Evan C. Thompson Endowed Term Chair for Excellence in Teaching from 2020 to 2023. Since 2024, Daeyeon has served as Director of the NSF Artificial Intelligence-Driven RNA BioFoundry (AIRFoundry), an open-access platform that integrates artificial intelligence, automation and microfluidics to advance RNA design, synthesis, and delivery for a broad range of applications.