October 17, 2019 | Melanie Burnat, Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering

American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects UConn’s Dr. Cato T. Laurencin

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on Oct. 12.

Dr. Cato T. Laurencin being congratulated by Academy President David Oxtoby at the 2019 induction ceremony on Oct. 12, 2019 (Photo courtesy of AAS).

University of Connecticut’s Dr. Cato T. Laurencin was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on Oct. 12. Laurencin is among more than 200 newly elected members chosen for their outstanding achievements in academia, the arts, business, government, and public affairs.

Laurencin is currently the only active orthopaedic surgeon in the United States who is a member of the Academy, and the fifth orthopaedic surgeon ever inducted in the Academy’s 239th history.

The Academy was founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock, and others who believed the new republic should honor exceptionally accomplished individuals and engage them in advancing the public good. Its dual mission remains essentially the same centuries later with honorees from increasingly diverse fields and with the work focused on the arts, democracy, education, global affairs, and science.

“With the election of these members, the Academy upholds the ideals of research and scholarship, creativity and imagination, intellectual exchange and civil discourse, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge in all its forms,” said David W. Oxtoby, president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Laurencin is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at UConn Health and chief executive officer of the Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and an elected member of the American Surgical Association. He has been named to the list of America’s Top Doctors for the past consecutive 15 years. In 2016, Laurencin received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honor bestowed in America for technological achievement, presented by the President of the United States. He is the recipient of the Philip Hauge Abelson Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science ‘for signal contributions to the advancement of science in the United States.’

In addition, Laurencin is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Laurencin received his B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, his M.D., magna cum laude, from the Harvard Medical School, and his Ph.D. in biochemical engineering/biotechnology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was named a Hugh Hampton Young Fellow.