AIMBE Past Presidents

Tejal Desai, Ph.D.

President 2020 – 2022

Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering, Professor of Engineering
Brown University

For her seminal contributions to for innovative drug delivery technology.

Christine E. Schmidt, Ph.D.

President 2018 – 2020

Pruitt Family Professor
University of Florida

For development of synthetic biomaterials that stimulate the regeneration of damaged peripheral and spinal nerves and successful clinical application.

Gilda Barabino, Ph.D.

President 2016 – 2018

Professor of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering and President
Olin College of Engineering

For significant contributions in developing in vitro microscopy-based flow adhesion assays to characterize sickle cell adhesion mechanisms.

Ravi V. Bellamkonda, Ph.D.

President 2014 – 2016

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Emory University

For outstanding contributions to the development of methods for nerve regeneration and to the understanding of tissue-biomaterials interactions.

William A. Hawkins III, MBA

President 2013 – 2014

Lead Director
Immucor, Inc.

Chairman & CEO, Retired
Medtronic, Inc.

For technical and executive leadership of medical device developments that have improved human health and advanced cardiovascular device engineering.

Raphael C. Lee, MD, ScD, DSc (Hon), FACS

President 2012 – 2013

Paul S. and Allene T. Russell Professor
The University of Chicago

For seminal contributions to the understanding and treatment of electrical burn injuries and development of practical electrical safety measures.

Ken Lutchen, Ph.D.

President 2011 – 2012

Dean, College of Engineering
Boston University

For novel measurement and signal processing methods providing new insights on structural airways and tissue condition in healthy and diseased lungs.

Thomas C. Skalak, Ph.D.

President 2010 – 2011

Executive Director Of Science and Technology
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation

For distinguished achievement in deepening understanding of capillary rheology and microvascular angiogenesis and arcade arteriolar growth.

Eugene C. Eckstein, Ph.D.

President 2009 – 2010

Department Chair & Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Memphis

For studies and model development of the directed rheological aspects of lateral transport of platelet-sized particles in blood flows.

John T. Watson, Ph.D.

President 2008 – 2009

Associate Director, University of California, San Diego
The William J. VonLiebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement

For sustained leadership in planning and implementing the nations cardiovascular devices and technology research and clinical evaluation programs.

Linda C. Lucas, Ph.D.

President 2007 – 2008

Provost (retired)
University of Alabama at Birmingham

For contributions to the understanding of corrosion effects in biomedical implants.

Herbert F. Voigt, III, Ph.D.

1952 – 2018

President 2006 – 2007

Professor
Boston University

For contributions to the quantitative understanding of auditory neurons in the cochlear nucleus and to biomedical engineering education.

Thomas R. Harris, M.D., Ph.D.

President 2005 – 2006

Orrin Henry Ingram Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Emeritus
Vanderbilt University

For outstanding contribution of transport phenomena to the lung microcirculation, and development of academic programs in biomedical engineering.

Don P. Giddens, Ph.D.

President 2004 – 2005

Dean Emeritus and Professor
Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

For significant contributions in understanding the role of fluid dynamics in arterial disease.

Arthur J. Coury, Ph.D.

President 2003 – 2004

Vice President, Biomaterials Research (Retired); University Distinguished Professor, Chemical Engineering; Affiliated Faculty, Bioengineering
Genzyme Corporation

For outstanding contributions to the development and application of new biomedical polymers.

Shu Chien, M.D., Ph.D.

President 2000 – 2001

Director, Whitaker Institute for Biomedical Engineering
University of California, San Diego

For his opening of a new horizon for research on blood rheology, cell mechanics, and circulatory transport.

John H. Linehan, Ph.D.

President 1999 – 2000

Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Northwestern University

For developing novel engineering means leading to critical new physiological and pathophysiological understanding of the pulmonary circulation.

William R. Hendee, Ph.D.

President 1998 – 1999

Distinguished Professor for Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Biophysics and Institute for Health & Society
Medical College of Wisconsin

For authorship in medical physics and biomedical engineering.

Larry V. McIntire, Ph.D.

President 1997 – 1998

Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

For contributions as an outstanding educator, administrator, and researcher in the application of biorheological and biochemical methods in blood and vascular biology.

Winfred M. Phillips, D.Sc.

President 1996 – 1997

Vice President for Research
University of Florida

For contributions as an outstanding educator, administrator, and researcher in the application of biorheological and biochemical methods in blood and vascular biology.

Jerome S. Schultz, Ph.D.

President 1995 – 1996

Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering
University of Houston

For contributions to the understanding of membrane transport and molecular recognition to make practical separation devices and bio-analytical sensors.

Pierre Galletti, Ph.D.

1927-1997

President 1994 – 1995

Professor of Bioengineering
Brown University

For pioneering the field of artificial organs and integrating engineering science with clinical medicine.

Robert M. Nerem, Ph.D.

1937-2020

President 1992 – 1994

Director, Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience
Georgia Institute of Technology

For biomedical engineering leadership through major contributions to the understanding of dynamics of blood flow and blood vessels in health and disease.