CMU Software Engineering Institute Adds Aztlán CEO Russell Crockett to Board of Visitors
• Press Release
Pittsburgh, Pa., September 24, 2020—The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) today announced the appointment of Russell T. Crockett as a member of the SEI Board of Visitors. The Board of Visitors advises the CMU president, vice president for research, and the SEI director on SEI plans and operations.
“Russ Crockett will bring to our board not only decades of leadership experience in business and industry, but also a long-term commitment to the university,” said Paul Nielsen, SEI Director and CEO. “We look forward to working with him in an advisory role to continuously improve the SEI’s position as a key provider of software engineering, cybersecurity, and AI engineering expertise to our government sponsor.”
Crockett is Managing Partner and CEO of Aztlán Chemical, a clean chemical startup using green energy. Aztlán will utilize a novel, proprietary ramping technology that pairs with wind energy to produce chemicals without the use of carbon. He will continue to serve as Principal and Owner of RTC Energy LLC, a management consulting firm he started in 2014. During his career, Crockett has served as Senior Vice President, Commercial at TPC Group, from 2008 to 2013. He was also Vice President, Chemical Sales Americas for Lyondell Chemical Company from 2001 to 2008. While at Lyondell, he also served as Vice President Responsible Care and Engineering; Channelview Hydrocarbons Plant Manager; Business Director, Aromatics & Fuels; and Treasury Management Consultant. Crockett began his career with EI Dupont de Nemours & Co., serving in successive business and operations assignments.
“I’m honored to serve as an advisor to Paul and his team at the SEI as the group advances technologies that will continue to positively shape the world in which we live,” said Crockett.
Crockett holds an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, where he has served on the Board of Trustees since July 2010.
He is also a board member of the Education and Charities Foundation of Houston, which is committed to providing positive impactful experiences for underserved youth to accelerate their development toward self-empowerment and lofty achievements through mentoring and intervention, summer development, education empowerment, college readiness, and scholarship assistance.
About the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute
The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University. The SEI works with organizations to make measurable improvements in their software engineering capabilities by providing technical leadership to advance the practice of software engineering. The CERT Division of the SEI is the world’s leading trusted authority dedicated to improving the security and resilience of computer systems and networks and a national asset in the field of cybersecurity. For more information, visit the SEI website at http://www.sei.cmu.edu.
