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Alan J. Russell named University Professor of Surgery


University Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg made the appointment, which become effective June 1, based on the recommendations of Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor James V. Maher and Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences Arthur S. Levine.

Russell is a professor of surgery in the School of Medicine, of bioengineering and chemical engineering in Pitt's School of Engineering, and of rehabilitation science and technology in SHRS. He also serves as director of the University's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, executive director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, and director of the National Tissue Engineering Center.

Among Russell's many honors are the R&D 100 Award, which the Chicago Tribune called "the Oscars® of Invention"; the American Cyanamid Research Award; and the Carnegie Science Center Award for Excellence in Science and Technology. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, the Encyclopedia of Catalysis, and Biocatalysis and Biotransformation.

Russell earned the Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and applied molecular biology at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in Manchester, England, in 1984 and the Ph.D. degree in biological chemistry at the Imperial College of the University of London in 1987. He joined Pitt as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in 1989. In 1995, he became Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor and was chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering from 1995 to 2001. In 1999, he cofounded Agentase LLC, a highly successful Pittsburgh biotechnology company, and became executive director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative. In 2001, Russell was appointed director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

The title of University Professor is given in recognition of eminence in several fields of study, transcending accomplishment in, and contributions to, a single discipline.

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