Posted on February 1, 2002 at 3:10 p.m.
BIRMINGHAM, AL — Linda C. Lucas, Ph.D., dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Engineering, has been named president of the national Biomedical Engineering Society.
Lucas, one of 10 female school of engineering deans in the United States, was named dean of the UAB School of Engineering in August 2001. She joined the UAB faculty in 1982 as an assistant professor, rising to associate professor in 1985 and professor in 1993. She was named department chair of biomedical engineering in 1996.
She also is the director of UAB’s Biomedical Implant Center. She holds joint appointments at UAB with the Injury Control Center, the Department of Materials and Mechanical Engineering and two departments within the School of Dentistry.
Lucas has been involved in the characterization and development of biomaterials for medical applications for the past 20 years. Her work has focused on materials for orthopedic, dental and cardiovascular devices. Results of her studies have been published in more than 90 publications, and she has made more than 250 presentations at regional, national and international scientific meetings.
Lucas is a past-president of the Society for Biomaterials, a Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineers and an International Fellow of the Society for Biomaterials.
She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and chemistry from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from UAB. She has master’s degrees in mathematics, education and materials engineering from UAB. She earned her doctorate from UAB in biomedical engineering with an emphasis in biomaterials.
The Biomedical Engineering Society promotes the expansion of biomedical engineering knowledge and its utilization and has a membership of 3,000. Membership in the society is open to those who share its stated purpose and who have educational, research, or practical experience in biomedical engineering or in an allied scientific field. The society has several grades of membership to accommodate the interests and qualifications of all interested professionals and students.