The J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering is exceptionally pleased to welcome Dr. Christine Schmidt as the incoming Chair of the Department.

Florida’s success in attracting such an outstanding Chair is due to the vision, commitment, and dogged effort of Dean Cammy Abernathy, for which the Department is most grateful. She has seen how the future of the College of Engineering will continually grow more interconnected with biomedicine in general and with each of the Health Sciences at the University of Florida. By attracting Dr. Schmidt, Dean Abernathy is putting her stamp on the bright future for Biomedical Engineering at Florida.

The search for the Chair was especially thorough and rigorous, with five outstanding candidates visiting Gainesville as finalists. The Department is especially appreciative of the entire search committee, chaired by Prof. Richard Dickinson (the Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department).

Dr. Schmidt’s arrival in January 2013 will mark a new phase of rapid growth for the department, to be characterized by addition of faculty to a count of 20, expansion and maturation of critical research areas, full implementation of the undergraduate program, and a highly visible rise in the department’s standing among the national biomedical engineering community. Dr. Schmidt is superbly qualified to lead this expansion, having an outstanding research program at the University of Texas, excellent experience in building the UT Biomedical Engineering Department, and superb involvement as a national and international leader in biomedical engineering. Please see Dean Abernathy’s announcement for greater detail on her background.