Dr. Cato T. Laurencin, University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, received the Gold Key Award from the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Honor Society.

In addition, Laurencin was the keynote speaker for the International Forum on Research Excellence, Sigma Xi’s annual conference. The Gold Key Award is the Society’s highest honor, presented to a member who has made extraordinary contributions to their profession and fostered critical innovations to enhance the health of the research enterprise, to cultivate integrity in research, or to promote the public understanding of science for the purpose of improving the human condition.

In introducing Dr. Laurencin to the audience, Dean J.C. Zhao of the College of Engineering stated, “We are known for two great things at the University of Connecticut: Basketball and Professor Laurencin.”

Professor Laurencin is well known internationally for his work in science, engineering, and medicine. He is the founder of the field of Regenerative Engineering. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He received the Priestley Medal, the American Chemical Society’s highest honor, and the Von Hippel Award, the highest honor of the Materials Research Society. In receiving the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, he was named the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist.

A moving video tribute to Dr. Laurencin was presented at the awards ceremony from UConn President Radenka Maric. “I can think of no one more deserving of the Society’s highest honor than Dr. Laurencin. He’s a leading figure in materials science and engineering, a pioneering surgeon, and accomplished inventor and mentor.” President Maric said warmly in the tribute.

Laurencin is the Chief Executive Officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, an Institute created in his honor at the University of Connecticut. He is Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at UConn. He earned a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, an M.D., magna cum laude, from the Harvard Medical School, and a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.