Cato T. Laurencin
Laurencin is a University Professor at the University of Connecticut, the highest ranking professorship at the school. A surgeon-engineer-scientist, he is the Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, and Professor of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering at UCONN.
He earned his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his M.D., Magna Cum Laude, from the Harvard Medical School, and his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Laurencin is a pioneer of the field of Regenerative Engineering. He received the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and the National Science Foundation’s Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Grant Award for this field. For his work, the American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded Laurencin the Philip Hauge Abelson Prize given “for signal contributions to the advancement of science in the United States”. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, America’s highest award for technological achievement, bestowed by the President of the United States in ceremonies at the White House.
Laurencin is the first surgeon in history elected to all four National Academies: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors. Internationally, Laurencin is an elected fellow of the Indian National Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the African Academy of Sciences, the Benin National Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Royal Academy of Engineering, The World Academy of Sciences, and he is an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Laurencin is the 106th recipient of the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor of the NAACP. The medal is presented for the “highest or noblest achievement by a living African American during the preceding year or years in any honorable field.” Previous Spingarn Medal recipients include George Washington Carver, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Maya Angelou.