Michael Sacks Named First John A. Swanson Chair

Michael Sacks, professor of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh, was named the first incumbent of the John A. Swanson Endowed Chair in recognition of his outstanding research accomplishments and service to the bioengineering community at the national and international level. As Swanson Chair, Sacks will continue to be a major contributor to the research and educational mission of the Department of Bioengineering and the Swanson School of Engineering.

Earlier this year, Sacks received the Van C. Mow Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a highly prestigious award given to a researcher who has “demonstrated meritorious contributions to the field of bioengineering through research, education, professional development, leadership in the development of the profession, mentorship to young bioengineers, and with service to the bioengineering community.”

Renown nationally and internationally for his research on the biomechanics of native and engineered soft tissues, Sacks has published extensively in top-tier peer-reviewed journals, was named among the 2006 Scientific American 50, received the 2008 University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award in the Senior Scholar category, is the Technical Editor of the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, is an ASME, BMES, and AIMBE fellow, and has received National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in excess of $1 million/annually.

Sacks’ full curriculum vitae can be accessed online here: http://www.engr.pitt.edu/bioengineering/doc/sacks_michael/sacks_cv.pdf

The Swanson Chair was made possible when John A. Swanson, acclaimed inventor, business founder, and University of Pittsburgh engineering alumnus and trustee, made a gift of $41.3 million in 2007 to the Pitt School of Engineering as part of the $2 billion Building Our Future Together Campaign. In recognition of this extraordinary generosity, the University renamed the school the John A. Swanson School of Engineering. Swanson designated a portion of his gift to be used toward faculty support, thereby allowing the Swanson School to attract and retain top faculty such as Sacks.