Two Brown Alumni Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Brown University engineering alumni Sangeeta Bhatia '90 and Guruswami Ravichandran Sc.M. '83 Ph.D. '87, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). They are two of the 67 new members elected, which brings the total U.S. membership to 2,263 members.

Bhatia, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, John J. and Dorothy Wilson Professor of Health Sciences and Technology and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and director, Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies, was honored for tissue engineering and tissue regeneration technologies, stem cell differentiation, and preclinical drug evaluation.

Ravichandran, John E. Goode Jr. Professor of Aerospace, professor of mechanical engineering, and director, Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, was elected for contributions to mechanics of dynamic deformation, damage, and failure of engineering materials.

"This is a spectacular achievement and we are extremely happy for them," said Dean Larry Larson. "To have two alumni elected in one year from Brown is a wonderful accomplishment."

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."

Bhatia and Ravichandran join an exclusive group of 14 Brown engineering alumni already in the NAE that includes: Walter J. Weber '56 (elected 1985), William F. Allen '41 (elected 1986), T. Dixon Dudderar Ph.D.'66 (elected 1992), Wai-Fah Chen Ph.D.'66 (elected 1995), George J. Dvorak Ph.D.'69 (elected 1995), Marc S. Newkirk '69 (elected 1997), Hratch Gregory Semerjian Sc.M.'68 Ph.D.'72 (elected 2000), Chain T. Liu Sc.M.'64 Ph.D.'67 (elected 2004), Robert M. McMeeking Ph.D.'75 (elected 2005), Jean-Yves Parlange Ph.D.'62 (elected 2006), Alan I. Taub '76 (elected 2006), Ares J. Rosakis Sc.M.'80 Ph.D.'83 (elected 2011), H. David Hibbitt Ph.D. '72 (elected 2013) and Enrique Lavernia '82 (elected 2013).

Eleven current or former Brown engineering faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, including Huajian Gao, Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Engineering, (elected 2012) and Otis Randall University Professor Clyde Briant (elected 2010). Other members include: Michael Ortiz (elected 2013), Subra Suresh (elected 2002), Professor Emeritus Alan Needleman (elected 2000), Professor Emeritus L.B. Freund (elected 1994), Professor Emeritus Rod Clifton (elected 1989), Joseph Kestin (elected 1982), James R. Rice (elected 1980), Daniel C. Drucker (elected 1967), and William Prager (elected 1965).