Bio
Dr. Sharon Feng is an accomplished innovation leader recognized for shaping and leading top global organizations at the intersection of technology innovation, new business development and organizational transformation. Sharon was the Global Director of Corporate R&D at PPG prior to her recent retirement. One of her responsibilities in this role was to lead digital transformation in the science and technology function. Before joining PPG, Sharon was the Senior Associate Dean of the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. Overall, Sharon had over thirty years of experience innovating in coatings industry with various leadership roles in North America and Asia with global companies such as Covestro and Lanxess. Sharon has been an independent director on the board of Koppers, a global wood preservation company, for over 14 years and was recognized as one of the Most Influential Corporate Directors by Women Inc. magazine in 2020. In recent years, Sharon is also recognized as a thought leader in harnessing the power of data science in materials research. She was the keynote speaker at the American Coating Show in 2016 on the trend of using material informatics in new material discovery. In 2021, she was an invited panelist at Coatings Trends and Technologies conference addressing the promises and challenges of digital transformation. Sharon received her Ph.D. in bioinorganic chemistry from MIT.