Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, one of four children. Parents' Lithuanian backgrounds. Father mechanic, no high school; mother bookkeeper. Education very important. All siblings well-educated. Life under apartheid comfortable; no knowledge of other way of living. Education system like British. Science track; good at math. Johannesburg College of Education: after-school programs for gifted children; liked geology, paleontology, and petrochemistry. Took class several times, was inspired to study chemistry. No television in South Africa until 1975; then only one government-produced hour per day. Long school year. Liked hiking, soccer, Dungeons and Dragons. Read a lot. Inhibited by scoliosis.

Entered chemical engineering department at University of Witwatersrand. Lived at home, like most students. Curriculum predetermined; no electives. State-subsidized. Bursary from Sasol Corporation. Compulsory army service, evaded by continuing education. Summer work on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. Synthol catalyst. Keith Lawson. Reavell Medal. Intense study life. Three or four black chemical engineering students. Began thinking about graduate work in England. Would have to buy way out of commitment to Sasol; had saved his stipends, scholarships. Worked for Sasol for seven months and attended University of South Africa to avoid conscription. Apartheid changing, upheaval in South Africa. Decided to try United States graduate programs, as England did not provide funding.

Not accepted at California Institute of Technology; heavily recruited by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Chose Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), major in chemical engineering and minor in materials sciences. Summer internship at Exxon Corporation; four courses at MIT; research work; including David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice. Jackie Ying his advisor, new professor. Met Stuart Soled, who gave Levin summer internship, working on nanostructures of layered materials. "Unbelievable" experience; huge, wonderful lab with much equipment, many colleagues. Practice School: Merck; then Dow Chemicals; learned project planning, execution, working with others, communication skills, report writing. Obtained MS in chemical engineering practice. Wanted job in US, so needed PhD. Worked on nickel molybdates, partial oxidation; long days, long weeks. Funding from National Science Foundation. Won best teaching assistant award. Thought about academia, but did not like grant-seeking, networking, etc. First experiences in Boston, Massachusetts. MIT and other students challenging. South African study more practical.

Almost all companies required US citizenship; his only site interview with Mobil, but got job; began at Paulsboro, New Jersey; moved to Clinton, New Jersey, after Mobil-Exxon merger. In Corporate Research, so allowed to do own lab work, very important to him. Zeolite catalysis with Clarence Chang, then José Santiesteban. Mobil smaller, research applied; Exxon large, mostly basic research. Cumene hydroperoxide decomposition. Baytown, Texas, and methanol to olefins (MTO). Comparison of Mobil and Exxon. Worked with a team after merger; GTO (gas to olefins) still, but now more devoted to goal. Seventy or eighty team members. Transferred from Corporate Strategic Research to Catalysis Technology within Process Research. Supported manufacture of catalysts in Beaumont, Texas. Also developed next generation of catalysts. Discovered TransPlus NG; now commercial. Next move to Hydroprocessing. Progressed research on Nebula (discovered by Soled), based on summer intern work with nickel molybdates; only bulk hydroprocessing catalyst on market; provides much higher activity; especially useful with low-sulfur specifications. Now working on next generation of Nebula.

Begins day with check of overnight data; more data at lunchtime. Checks pilot plants himself. Now an integrated project team leader (IPTL), responsible for coordination of all team members. His work ninety percent experimental; does not like high throughput. About to become Section Head, so back to Catalyst Technology. Assignment to develop ten professionals in section, as well as the technology; intended also to develop him as leader in company. Typical of ExxonMobil's career development process. Details of classification structure. Expects much more stress; people not his strength.

Corporate Research does most of publishing; conferences for academia. Time lag necessary for petroleum industry to secure patent protection, so not much new technical information publicly available. Studies patent landscape to avoid risk of infringement. Research mostly in-house, not much collaboration with universities. Some networking and promotion required. Stage gate system; even a system for serendipity. Series of seminars to promote interaction. Competition from Chevron, China. Chinese patent infringement. India. Current research in the field. Still finding new applications for ZSM-5; many molecular sieves, but only five or ten in commercial use.

Lived in Bala Cynwyd while at Paulsboro site. Met wife at party in New York City. Wife a journalist, but now home with three young children. Moved to Highland Park, New Jersey, near Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Woodworking hobby. Views of Americans in general. Opinions about cyclical anti-intellectualism, journalistic responsibility. Has found science challenging, interesting, practical; would encourage his children to enter science if they want to. Soled's mentoring; still works with summer internships. Santiesteban another important mentor. Still very good scientist, but now also excellent manager, and Levin's boss. Nomination for Moore Medal. Medal means outside recognition. Giving his acceptance talk in numerous places. Has found chemical engineering very satisfying; would do it again. Definitely glad to have emigrated. Objectives for rest of career: hopes to raise his children well, give them good training and opportunities. Wants to develop management skills but ultimately wants to get back to technical side. Hopes one day to be global expert in catalysis. Room for much more development in catalysis.