Dr. Christine E. Schmidt, professor, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Chair & BME Department Chair, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, recently announced changes to the department’s leadership team.

The following appointments take effect on July 1, 2020:

• Dr. Kevin Otto, Professor, appointed to Senior Associate Chair
• Dr. Walter Lee Murfee, Associate Professor, appointed to Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies

Dr. Otto and Dr. Murfee have a longstanding commitment to engineering leadership, both as an educators and researchers. Their inspired commitment to higher education and the UF BME community is greatly appreciated. We look forward to their leadership!

The department is grateful to acknowledge the service of:

• Dr. Daniel Ferris, Robert W. Adenbaum Professor & Senior Associate Chair
• Dr. Kyle Allen, Associate Professor, J. Crayton Pruitt Family Term Fellow and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies

Dr. Ferris and Dr. Allen made numerous key contributions to the department during their time in leadership roles. They were instrumental in the department’s inaugural ABET accreditation, leading the program’s self-study and quality assessment methods. This achievement is the culmination of an intense multi-year process of program building, assessment and evaluation to meet rigorous standards.

Dr. Ferris served as an advisor to the Chair and was responsible for all matters related to the academic program, admissions and standards, curriculum development, awards and scholarships, student affairs, and all aspects of student life, including recognition for accomplishments and promotion of academic and professional standards. Dr. Ferris was instrumental in meeting academic accreditation standards and forging effective inter-and-intra-professional partnerships with faculty and staff to fulfill the department’s academic mission.

Dr. Allen played a crucial role in providing a world-class student experience for undergraduate students. He strengthened the undergraduate program by doubling the undergraduate class size, changing the admissions structure, and re-deploying the curriculum for increased class size. He set up a system for research credit, which has UF BME as the top undergraduate research activity among the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering. With the research activity in department, undergraduate BMES abstracts and honor’s theses increased each year. Dr. Allen also helped to initiate and coordinate critical events for students, such as the Undergraduate Showcase, Industry Connect, and Alumni Connect. Most notably, the undergraduate program was ranked for the first time at No. 16 among the nation’s best public universities as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

Congratulations to the team!