The J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering is sending off Dr. Bruce Wheeler to both retirement from UF (with Emeritus Professor status) and to the position of Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at the University of California at San Diego. Professor Wheeler’s new position is predominantly for undergraduate teaching and in particular to be actively involved in the development of the new UCSD undergraduate bioengineering major in Systems Bioengineering, which will be strongly influenced by electrical engineering concepts as applied to biomedicine. He will continue his currently funded (NIH) research program with collaborators at UF and at UC Irvine during the transition.
His refocused efforts will be fitting, as Professor Wheeler has had a strong career interest in undergraduates, which included his previous faculty position as Associate Head for Undergraduate Affairs of the ECE department at Illinois, and for which he won multiple college and campus advising awards. Dr. Wheeler is also very proud of having helped start two undergraduate BME degree programs, at Florida and at Illinois, and even more proud of the outstanding graduates of both programs who are going on to positions of leadership across the United States. He was honored to present diplomas to the first undergraduate class of Gator Biomedical Engineers last spring.
Professor Wheeler was the Acting Chair of the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering during the years of 2009-2012, doubling the size of the faculty and helping to start the undergraduate BME program. Previously, he was the Founding and Interim Head of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois. He has also served as President of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.
Dr. Wheeler is most excited about this new opportunity to give back to the biomedical engineering community, and to the nation, by helping even more undergraduates achieve their dreams.
The department is thankful to Dr. Wheeler for his leadership and dedication to BME at UF. He was presented with a Gator plaque and a framed t-shirt from the first undergraduate class during a farewell luncheon to celebrate his contributions to the department.