Welcome to Commencement 2024

His established bioengineering research group, specializing in the tissues of the musculoskeletal system with particular emphasis on the various cartilages, has published 388 peer-reviewed articles, 364 conference proceedings and abstracts, 21 books, and 38 U.S. patents (including three trademarks), achieving deep and sustained impacts in musculoskeletal bioengineering, stem cell bioengineering, and biomechanics, as they relate to tissue engineering.

Athanasiou has founded five companies which have brought to the market 15 Food and Drug Administration-approved and widely used products. His patents on biodegradable scaffolds resulted in the first cartilage implant used to treat focal lesions in knee injuries, and his invention on intraosseous infusion has won The Wall Street Journal's Innovation award. He is also known for his tremendous service to the bioengineering profession, having served as the Biomedical Engineering Society’s (BMES) president and editor-in-chief of the Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from New York Institute of Technology, and an M.S., Ph.M., and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He has received the Medal of Excellence from the Republic of Cyprus, which the country’s president presents to one individual every year, the Pritzker Award from BMES, and was named a Great American in 2023 by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, among numerous other accolades.

Named to America’s Top Doctors for 20 years and named a Connecticut Top Doctor and Connecticut Healthcare Hero by Connecticut Magazine, Laurencin earned his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, magna cum laude, and his Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed an orthopaedic surgery residency at Harvard, where he was named chief resident at Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School. A specialist in shoulder surgery and sports medicine, he completed fellowship training at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Laurencin is an awarded orthopaedic surgeon, a pioneer in the field of regenerative engineering, and an expert in biomaterials science, stem cell technology, biophysics, and nanotechnology. In receiving the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, he was named as the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist. He is also an inventor and was named Inventor of the Year by the Intellectual Property Owners Foundation. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, America’s highest honor for technical achievement, awarded by President Barack Obama.

Laurencin is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is the first surgeon in history elected to all four national academies in the United States.