Three Meinig School Faculty inducted into AIMBE’s prestigious College of Fellows
Professors Butcher, Hernandez and Schaffer join Medical and Biological Engineering Elite
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the induction of Meinig School faculty Jonathan Butcher, Chris Hernandez (also on the faculty of Cornell's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), and Chris Schaffer to its College of Fellows. Election to the AIMBE College of Fellows is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to a medical and biological engineer. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top two percent of medical and biological engineers. College membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering and medicine research, practice, or education” and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of medical and biological engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to bioengineering education."
Drs. Butcher, Hernandez, and Schaffer, were nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for the following:
Jonathan Butcher, Ph.D. (Professor and Associate Director, Director of Undergraduate Studies) for “pioneering the emerging field of heart valve mechanobiology by combining cardiovascular tissue mechanics with paradigms from developmental biology.”
Christopher J. Hernandez, Ph.D. (Associate Professor) for “outstanding contributions to the understanding of bone mechanical properties and bone quality.”
Chris Schaffer, Ph.D. (Associate Professor) for “outstanding contributions to understanding the cellular interactions that drive neurological disease using nonlinear optical techniques.”
A formal induction ceremony was held during the AIMBE Annual Meeting at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC on March 25, 2019. Drs. Butcher, Hernandez, and Schaffer join 156 colleagues who make up the AIMBE College of Fellows Class of 2019. While most AIMBE Fellows hail from the United States, the College of Fellows has inducted Fellows representing 30 countries. AIMBE Fellows are employed in academia, industry, clinical practice and government. AIMBE Fellows are among the most distinguished medical and biological engineers including 2 Nobel Prize laureates, 17 Fellows having received the Presidential Medal of Science and/or Technology and Innovation, and 158 also inducted to the National Academy of Engineering, 72 inducted to the National Academy of Medicine and 31 inducted to the National Academy of Sciences.
About AIMBE
AIMBE is the authoritative voice and advocate for the value of medical and biological engineering to society. AIMBE’s mission is to recognize excellence, advance the public understanding, and accelerate medical and biological innovation. No other organization can bring together academic, industry, government, and scientific societies to form a highly influential community advancing medical and biological engineering. AIMBE’s mission drives advocacy initiatives into action on Capitol Hill and beyond.