Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., PhD is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering in the United States. Dr Laurencin is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Professor of Materials Engineering at the University of Connecticut. In addition, Dr Laurencin is a University Professor at the University of Connecticut (the 7th in the institution’s history). An internationally prominent orthopaedic surgeon, engineer, and administrator, Dr Laurencin is the Founder and Director of both the Institute for Regenerative Engineering and the Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences at the University of Connecticut Health Center. Dr Laurencin earned his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and his medical degree magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School. During medical school, he also earned his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr Laurencin has been named to America’s Top Doctors and America’s Top Surgeons and is a Fellow of the American Surgical Association, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He is the recipient of the Nicolas Andry Award from the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons. In research, Dr Laurencin is an International Fellow in Biomaterials Science and Engineering and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society. His work on engineering tissues was honored by Scientific American Magazine as one of the 50 greatest achievements in science in 2007. Dr Laurencin was named the 2009 winner of the Pierre Galletti Award, medical and biological engineering’s highest honor and was named one of the 100 Engineers of the Modern Era by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers at its Centennial celebration. In 2012, his work was highlighted by National Geographic Magazine in its “100 Discoveries That Have Changed Our World” edition.
