UConn Health

June 8, 2026 | Jon D'Arpino

Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin Appointed to Hitchcock Professorship at the University of California

Laurencin has been appointed to the Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, during the 2026-2027 academic year.

Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., K.C.S.L.,

Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, M.D., Ph.D., K.C.S.L.

The Hitchcock Professorship is one of Berkeley’s oldest and most cherished endowments. The Professorship was established in 1885 by Dr. Charles Hitchcock and his daughter, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, to provide “free lectures upon scientific and practical subjects” for the University community.

The professorship is prestigious because it represents one of the oldest, most selective academic honors at UC Berkeley, reserved for individuals who have fundamentally altered their fields of study. It frequently serves as a showcase for Nobel Prize-winning research.

Speakers cannot apply for the position; they must be nominated through a highly competitive, campus-wide faculty review process managed by the Berkeley Graduate Council. The university only sponsors up to two lectures per semester, ensuring that only the most urgent, definitive, and world-renowned voices receive the funding and invitation. Laurencin’s invitation reflects the deep admiration and enthusiasm for his work among Berkeley colleagues and students.

Laurencin is internationally acclaimed as the founder of the field of Regenerative Engineering, pioneering the convergence of advanced materials science, stem cell biology, physics, developmental biology, and clinical translation for the regeneration of complex tissues and organ systems. His pioneering achievements have earned him recognition as the “Father of Regenerative Engineering,” and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Foundation established and endowed the Cato T. Laurencin Founder’s Award in Regenerative Engineering in his honor.

Laurencin is the first surgeon in history elected to all four major U.S. national academies. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the National Academy of Medicine, and an elected fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He is also an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In receiving the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP, he was recognized as the world’s foremost engineer-physician-scientist. He has received the highest recognitions across science, engineering, and medicine, including the Priestley Medal, the highest honor of the American Chemical Society, the Simon Ramo Founders Award, the highest honor of the National Academy of Engineering, and the Philip Hauge Abelson Prize of the American Association of the Advancement of Science.

At the University of Connecticut, Sir Cato T. Laurencin serves as the University Professor and Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn School of Medicine. He is professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, professor of Materials Science and Engineering and professor of Biomedical Engineering. He is the Chief Executive Officer of The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering, an Institute created and named in his honor.