UConn professor Cato T. Laurencin has been named the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Spingarn Medal, the highest honor of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
At UConn, Laurencin serves as the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and a professor of chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, and biomedical engineering.
He’s the first engineer to receive the Spingarn medal honor, the fourth physician, and the fifth scientist.Â
Laurencin’s scientific focus has been on tissue regeneration, biomaterials science, nanotechnology and regenerative engineering, a field he founded.
Laurencin is also the first surgeon in history to be elected to all four national academies: the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, and National Academy of Inventors.Â
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