INFORM March 2025

6 • inform March 2025, Vol. 36 (3)

Surfactants and Detergents Division Spotlight

PHIL VINSON, 2025 SAMUEL ROSEN AWARD WINNER

the Fabric and Home Care organization. While this has been a period of tremendous technical achievement in our surfactant platform, I feel my role in mentoring younger scientists and researchers and developing the next generation for P&G R&D has been the most important accomplishment. INFORM: What is your most significant contribution to the surfactant industry? Vinson: With over 100 patented innovations, I have worked both with internal partners across many functions and with outstanding external partners across the industry to bring many transformational innovations to life. As the largest com mercial user of surfactants in the world, P&G has used these innovations to help create and manufacture new and better detergents to improve billions of consumers’ lives worldwide. INFORM: What difference has AOCS made in your career? Vinson: Early on, AOCS conferences and the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents helped me learn more about the industrial side of surfactants and build my network across the industry. The conferences and journal have also provided me with an avenue for presenting my technical work, chairing ses

The Surfactants and Detergents (S&D) Division is one of AOCS’s largest interest areas. The Division encompasses the sciences and technologies associated with the development and pro duction of surfactants, detergents, and soaps. For this month’s spotlight, INFORM interviewed Phil Vinson, the recipient of the 2025 Samuel Rosen Memorial Award, which recognizes an indi vidual who has made a significant advancement, cumulative advancements, or application of surfactant chemistry princi ples. This award commemorates more than 40 years of Samuel Rosen’s work as an industrial chemist on the formulation of printing inks, initiated and sponsored by Milton J. Rosen. Phil Vinson has a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is currently the Senior Director for Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) Fabric & Home Care Surfactant Innovation Strategy with over 100 patent families on new materials and formulations used in consumer product brands. INFORM: What is your greatest career accomplishment? Vinson: My greatest career achievement has been to lead P&G’s upstream surfactant innovation program, since 2010, for

Phil Vinson