Dr. Cato T. Laurencin is the first professor from the University of Connecticut to be elected to the Academia Europaea for his outstanding achievements as a scholar, as well as his scholarship and eminence in his field. Membership of the Academia Europaea is by invitation only after peer nomination and competition.
“I am very honored to be elected to this Academy. This further shows how important the field of regenerative engineering is to the world and its ability to deliver game-changing results aimed at helping people,” said Laurencin, University Professor at UConn and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Professor Emeritus of orthopedic surgery at the UConn School of Medicine. .
This year, in addition to being honored by the Academia Europaea, six additional academies around the world have elected Laurencin over the past 9 months: the European Academy of Sciences, the Senegalese Academy of Sciences and Techniques, the Beninese Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Laurencin is also CEO of the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering at UConn Health and Professor of Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering at UConn.
Laurencin’s fundamental and singular achievements in the fields of tissue regeneration, biomaterials science, nanotechnology and regenerative engineering, a field he founded, made him the greatest engineer-physician- researcher in the world. His groundbreaking achievements have resulted in transformative advances in improving human life. His fundamental contributions to materials science and engineering include the introduction of nanotechnology in the field of biomaterials for regeneration.
Laurencin received singular honors in engineering, medicine, science and technology for his work. He is the first individual in history to receive both the National Academy of Engineering’s oldest/highest award (the Founder’s Simon Ramo Award) and one of the oldest/highest awards from the National Academy of Medicine (the Walsh McDermott Medal). The American Association for the Advancement of Science presented Laurencin with the Philip Hauge Abelson Award given “for his outstanding 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 honor for technological achievement, presented by President Barack Obama during ceremonies at the White House.
In recognition of his groundbreaking achievements in the field of regenerative engineering worldwide, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers established the Cato T. Laurencin Regenerative Engineering Founder’s Award.
The Academy is the pan-European Academy of Humanities and Letters. Academy members are scientists and scholars who collectively aim to promote learning, education and research. Founded in 1988, with over 5,000 members, including leading experts in the physical sciences and technology, biological sciences and medicine, mathematics, arts and humanities, social and cognitive sciences, economics and law. The Academy also publishes the international journal The European review.
The Academia Europaea advances and propagates excellence in research in the humanities, law, economics, social and political sciences, mathematics, medicine and all branches of natural and technological sciences throughout the world for the public good and for the advancement of the education of the public of all ages in the above subjects in Europe. The Academy comprises seventy-two Nobel laureates, several of whom were elected to the Academy before receiving the award.
“I would like to congratulate you on having passed the process of electing members by competition,” wrote Marja Makarow, president of the Academia Europea in her award letter to Laurencin.
Laurencin’s election to the Academy will be honored at its October 2023 annual conference in Munich.