NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Thomas R. Harris, Vanderbilt chair of the Biomedical Engineering Department and Orrin H. Ingram Distinguished Professor of Engineering, has received a distinguished service award from the major scientific and professional society in the field of biomedical engineering.
The award was presented by the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) during its annual meeting Sept. 28 – Oct. 1 in Baltimore, Md.
Harris was recognized for his service as BMES board of directors member (1983-1984, 1990-1992), president (1985-1986), distinguished lecturer (1991) and chair of the publications board of directors (1992-1994).
In addition to chairing the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Harris is professor of biomedical engineering, chemical engineering and medicine at Vanderbilt and director of the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center in Bioengineering Educational Technologies. He is also currently the president of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.
Harris’s current research focuses on the integration of learning technology and science with bioengineering for the improvement of education in bioengineering. His work is supported by the National Science Foundation as an Engineering Research Center in Bioengineering Educational Technologies. The center is a large, multi-university effort involving Vanderbilt, Northwestern, University of Texas and the Harvard/MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program and is known as the VaNTH Engineering Research Center.
An active investigator into the problems of lung circulation with an emphasis on transport phenomena, quantitative physiology, mathematical modeling and instrumentation, Harris has published more than 230 papers, book chapters, proceedings and abstracts in these fields. His research has been concentrated on the quantitative physiology of the exchange of fluids and solutes in the capillaries of the lung.
Harris obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University, received his Ph.D. from Tulane University in chemical engineering and earned the M.D. from Vanderbilt University.
Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.
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