Focus on Faculty With Kavssery Ananthapadmanabhan, PhD

The James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy welcomes Professor KP Ananth, PhD, to the faculty. Ananth will be leading the Cosmetic Science Distance Learning program, responsible for the operations of the cosmetic science laboratories as well as coursework and research collaborations in cosmetic and personal care products science.

Born and brought up in a small town in India, Ananth earned a B. Tech in Materials Science from IIT Mumbai in 1974, and then obtained an MS (1976) and PhD (1980) from Columbia University in New York, specializing in surfactants and colloid science. He spent three years as an adjunct professor at Columbia, then joined Union Carbide at its Surface Chemistry Skill Center. In 1990 Ananth moved to Unilever and spent the next 26+ years on the science of personal care substrates such as skin, hair and oral care substrates and their interaction with personal care products. He is the author/coauthor of over 120 publications and inventor/co-inventor on 35+ patents. Career recognitions include Unilever’s Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to science. Ananth says he is keen on improving the functional efficacy of actives and products while ensuring their sustainability. Another interest is in human hygiene and the prevention of infectious diseases using personal care products. I have always wanted to return to teaching at some point. He hopes to bring his industrial-cum-academic experience to effectively mentor and teach the next generation of scientists for personal care, cosmetic and pharmaceutical applied research.