The Westchester Chemical Society
2025 Distinguished Scientist Award
Tonight, we are honoring a most remarkable woman – one who has taken a path from industrial research and academia to work for up to eight months out of the year in one of the poorest countries in the world and to share in the lifestyle of the people there. Dr. Rolande Hodel started her own life in Germany where she studied at the University of Tübingen and subsequently received her M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Kansas, Lawrence, and her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the City University of New York. For over 10 years, she held research positions in industry where she focused on nanotechnology and drug delivery and did consulting for start-up pharmaceutical companies. She then switched over to academia, teaching numerous courses at Westchester Community College. She is the recipient of many awards including the USA Astellas Foundation Award for research impacting global health and the Harvard Law School World AIDS Day award. She has also published many scientific papers on her research and has been a sought-after speaker for many different scientific and public-service organizations. But this recital does not nearly touch upon Dr. Hodel’s global impact as the President and Founder of AIDSfreeAFRICA. In that capacity, she has traveled many times to Cameroon where she set up facilities for the local people to produce their own pharmaceuticals, raising funds for the buildings, living and working with the locals, sharing in their lack of resources even to the point of starvation, inventing and training locals to implement the Malaria-Free Zone Program, building a community center where young people could learn computer coding and AI, setting up revolving funds for drug production, reagent production and procurement of hospital beds – and all this in a culture that places little value on a woman’s agency. She is a true pioneer that the Westchester Chemical Society is proud to acknowledge by naming her our 2025 Distinguished Scientist.
2016 Nominated for the Women-e-news award
of 21 Leaders of the 21st century
2015 Rotary Jersey City, NJ Legacy Award
for International Service.
Astellas USA Foundation award 2009
Dr. Rolande Hodel received the award for “a person using science to improve the lives of people in developing countries”. This award carries a $30,000 prize in addition to the awards presentation and symposium at the August 16, 2009 ACS National Meeting in Washington, DC. Visit www.acs.org for more information.
Harvard Law School
AIDSfreeAFRICA had the pleasure of speaking to Harvard University Law students about our work in Cameroon, while also receiving a $2700 award in recognition of our work.
Rotary of Jersey City’s Legacy of Service Award’s Fundraiser
Service to International Award Recipient
