Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering alumna Christine E. Schmidt (PhD 95) has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). She was selected “for biomaterials and tissue engineering for neural regeneration and improved wound healing and for leadership in diversifying bioengineering.”
Schmidt is Distinguished Professor, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Endowed Chair, and former Department Chair in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Florida, Gainesville. Prior to joining the faculty at University of Florida, Schmidt served on the faculty at University of Texas at Austin.
Her research is focused on engineering novel materials and therapeutic systems to stimulate damaged peripheral and spinal neurons to regenerate. Among her many honors, she is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering and American Society for the Advancement of Science.
Also among the 114 new members and 21 international members elected to the academy this year are Department of Chemistry alumni Hye Kyung Timken and Taeghwan Hyeon, Grainger College of Engineering faculty members Kiruba Haran (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and Taher Saif (Mechanical Science & Engineering), Civil and Environmental Engineering alumna Catherine French and ECE alumnus Mark Hersam.
Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature" and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education." Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.