Dr. Dionysiou was born on the Island of Cyprus. He is currently a Herman Schneider Professor of Environmental Engineering and Distinguished Research Professor (STEM) at the University of Cincinnati (UC). He has served as a UNESCO co-Chair Professor on “Water Access and Sustainability”. He received a Diploma (B.S./M.S.) from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, and an M.S. from Tufts University, both in Chemical Engineering. He received his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati in 2001.
Dr. Dionysiou teaches courses on drinking water quality, treatment and reuse, advanced unit operations for water treatment, advanced oxidation technologies, and physical-chemical processes for water quality control. His research interests include (i) physical chemical processes for treatment of surface water, groundwater, industrial wastewater, and other types of polluted water, (ii) advanced oxidation technologies, (iii) UV and solar light-based remediation processes, (iv) treatment of contaminants of emerging concern, (v) remediation of Harmful Algal Blooms/cyanotoxins, (vi) removal of toxic metals, oxyanions, and other inorganic constituents from waters; valorization of precious metals, (vii) environmental catalysis and nanotechnology, (viii) (nano)interfacial phenomena in environmental systems, and (ix) water sustainability. He has industrial experience with W. R. Grace where he performed research on investigating environmental problems in masonry formulations and he is serving as consultant of several environmental companies in the field of environmental engineering.
Dr. Dionysiou is the author or co-author of over 630 refereed journal publications (received over 72,000 citations, H-index of 138; i10-index 578; Google Scholar), over 87 conference proceedings, 39 book chapter publications, 38 editorials, over 50 research reports, two patents (with one more patent pending), >220 plenary/keynote presentations and invited lectures, and more than 600 invited and regular conference presentations. Dr. Dionysiou has also edited seven books. He has trained over 160 graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral associates, and visiting scholars in his laboratories.
Dr. Dionysiou has received funding from NSF, US EPA, DOD, DOE, NASA, NOAA/CICEET, USGS, USDA, Ohio Sea Grant, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine/USAID, Cyprus Research Foundation, and DuPont. He is currently one of the editors of Chemical Engineering Journal (Elsevier), co-Editor of Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering (Elsevier), and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Environmental Engineering (ASCE). He is associate editor of Water Research and a member of the Editorial Boards of more than ten journals including: Advanced Science Letters; Applied Catalysis B: Environmental; Catalysts; Current Environmental Engineering; Current Photocatalysis; Ecological Chemistry and Engineering S; Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology (RSC); Environmental Technology Reviews; ACS ES&T Engineering; International Journal of Photoenergy; Membranes; Journal of Photocatalysis; Nanomaterials and the Environment; Nanomaterials and Nanosciences; The International Journal of Water Sciences; and Water. He has previously served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Advanced Oxidation Technologies (2008-2017), Associate Editor of Water Environment Research (WEF) (2006-2011), and as member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Hazardous Materials (2010-2020), Current Environmental Management (2014-2020), and Environmental Progress (now renamed as Environmental Progress and Sustainable Energy) (AIChE) (2003-2009).
Dr. Dionysiou is fellow of the European Academy of Sciences, fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS), fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), fellow of the International Water Association (IWA), fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), elected Board Certified Environmental Engineering Member (BCEEM) of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES), and recipient of several awards including the 2022 Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW) (10th Prize cycle)- Creativity Prize (June 5, 2022), the ACS ES&T Engineering Inaugural Excellence in Review Award (2021), Award of Achievement as Distinguished Scientists under the Chinese Academy of Sciences President's International Fellowship Initiative (2019), the RSC Sustainable Water Award (2018), the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, The Marquis Who’s Who Publications Board (2017), ARCADIS / AEESP (Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors) Frontier in Research Award (2014) and AEESP Outstanding Publication Award (2021), the Tufts University Graduate School Alumni Outstanding Career Achievement Award (2012), the Inaugural Super Reviewer Award (2011) and Excellence in Review Award (2008) from the journal Environmental Science and Technology (ACS, 2008); the AEESP Dissertation Advisor Award for Mentoring Hyeok Choi who was selected as the recipient of the CH2M Hill/AEESP Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award for 2008; the NSF CAREER Award (2005); the DuPont Young Professor Award (2005); the 2007 Sigma Xi Award for Young Faculty, University of Cincinnati Chapter; the 2017 Rieveschl Award for Distinguished Scientific Research, University of Cincinnati, the College of Engineering and Applied Science Distinguished Engineering Researcher Award (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2019, 2021) and the 2006 College of Engineering Research Award for Young Faculty at the University of Cincinnati; the American Water Works Association’s First Place Academic Achievement Award for Best Dissertation (2002); and the Journal of Environmental Engineering Editor’s Award (2001). He is guest professor in nine international universities. His students also received numerous awards. Dr. Dionysiou has been featured in several international symposia, professional meetings, and scientific publications, including an interview on “Cleaning up water” published on July 5, 2011 in the Chemistry World magazine of the RSC.
Dr. Dionysiou is a Highly Cited Researcher in three categories (in Engineering, Environment/Ecology, and Chemistry) based on Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 as well as in Environmental Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering based of Shanghai Ranking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects by Elsevier, 2016; he is top 1% career impact scientist in all fields, including in topics of Water and Sanitation, UN SG # 6 based on Clarivate Analytics). He has been listed in the TOP 10 (out of over 146,000 researchers) in Expertise in Water Pollutants: Worldwide, Listing by Expertscape, August 2021.