Louisa A Nara
Global Process Safety Leader
CCPSC
When Process Safety Hit Home – A Life-Changing Journey of Passion and Commitment
Process safety is more than just a professional field for Louisa Nara; it is a deeply personal mission shaped by life-altering experiences. At the age of 9, Louisa faced her first process safety incident when a chemical plant fire and toxic gas release forced her community’s evacuation. This event, and subsequent incidents, profoundly impacted her, shaping a career dedicated to learning from the past and inspiring global change.
In this presentation, Louisa explores her journey of resilience and transformation. She shares powerful lessons learned from decades in the chemical, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical industries, revealing how personal experiences ignite passion and drive a commitment to safety. Attendees will leave with actionable insights, an understanding of safety’s human dimension, and motivation to champion safety within their own spheres of influence.
As a global leader in process safety, Louisa brings over 43 years of expertise in process engineering, process safety, crisis management, and emergency response. From 2010 through 2024, Louisa was AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) Global Technical Director. During that time, Louisa provided expertise on technical content and tools, including intellectual property, copyright, and branding issues, and was, and continues to be, an instructor for AIChE Academy and the CCPS Flagship course, Process Safety Boot Camp.
Louisa began her work at the site level in operations and process engineering and continued, successively, in regional and global technical leadership roles. She gained hands-on experience preventing, investigating, and responding to significant incidents through on-site leadership and corporate oversight positions.
Before joining CCPS, Louisa was Director of Risk Management and Compliance for Bayer MaterialScience NAFTA (now Covestro). She is known globally as a featured speaker and keynote on process safety topics and is a frequent speaker at universities, conferences, and meetings sharing information and lessons learned.
Louisa is currently a CPCS Emeritus Member, an AIChE Fellow, and a CCPS Fellow.
Nara has a BSChE from West Virginia University (1981), an MS in Environmental Engineering at Villanova University (1989), and is presently pursuing a Ph.D. at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Safety Sciences (2021-). Nara is a Certified Process Safety Professional (CCPSC) and a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP). She was elected to the West Virginia University Chemical Engineering Academy (2011) for her outstanding professional accomplishments.
In 2023, Louisa was selected as one of the Top 10 Inspirational Leaders by ERA Magazine. She also received the 2023 Mentorship Excellence Award from the Women in Chemical Engineering group.