Edwin N. Lightfoot is a Chemical Engineer and the Hilldale Professor Emeritus in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is known for his research in transport phenomena, including biological mass-transfer processes, mass-transport reaction modeling, and separations processes Lightfoot received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. After graduate school Lightfoot worked for Pfizer & Co in Brooklyn where he received US Patent US2787578 A for his development of a commercial process for recovering and purifying vitamin B12. In 2004, Lightfoot is a recipient of the National Medal of Science; the Medal was awarded by President George W. Bush "for his innovative research and leadership in transport phenomena focusing on biochemical and biomedical engineering with application to blood oxygenation, bioseparation techniques, and diabetic responses.