ansethdistinguished

Kristi Anseth Named Distinguished Professor by CU Board of Regents

THREE CU-BOULDER FACULTY MEMBERS NAMED DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORS

Three University of Colorado at Boulder faculty members have been named distinguished professors, the highest honor bestowed by CU on its teaching faculty.

The prestigious designation was awarded to Professor Kristi Anseth, of the chemical and biological engineering department; Professor Margaret Murnane, of the physics department and JILA; and Professor Norman Pace, of the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department, during the Jan. 23 meeting of the CU Board of Regents.

They join 34 other CU-Boulder faculty members named as distinguished professors since the Board of Regents established the designation in 1977.

The distinguished professor title is bestowed on CU faculty members who have a record of distinguished performance in research and creative work, a record of excellence in both classroom teaching and supervision of individual learning and a record of outstanding service to the profession and to CU.

Anseth is nationally known for her research in biomedical engineering. She was the first engineer to be named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, cited for her innovative materials science research, including the creation of new biomaterials for medical applications. She is leading a team of faculty members and students that is developing degradable scaffolds, or frameworks, to stimulate the growth of new human tissues to replace those lost by injuries and disease.

A member of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science, Anseth has won numerous awards for research and teaching. In 2004, she received the National Science Foundation's highest honor for a young researcher, the Alan T. Waterman Award, and in 2003 she was honored with the American Society for Engineering Education's Curtis W. McGraw Award, which is given to one faculty member under the age of 40 annually in recognition for contributions to both engineering education and research.

She received her doctorate in chemical engineering from CU-Boulder in 1994 and was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before joining the CU-Boulder faculty in 1996. Anseth has received outstanding ratings from her students for her classroom teaching. She also frequently accompanies the chancellor and provost to visit prospective students and their parents.