Lisa A. Pruitt

Lisa Pruitt is a professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering at UC Berkeley. She has authored more than 300 publications in her research field of biomaterials. She has received numerous awards for her research. Notably she has been recognized with a Congressional citation; a National Science Foundation CAREER award; an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award; and her election into the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.

Professor Pruitt is also committed to excellence in mentoring, teaching and outreach. For these activities, she has received the American Association of Advancement of Sciences Mentoring Award; the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring; the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award as well as the A. Richard Newton Educator Award. Professor Pruitt teaches undergraduate and graduate courses spanning Mechanical Behavior of Engineering Materials, Failure Analysis, Polymer Engineering and Medical Device Design. She also teaches personal leadership in both academic and equine settings.

Lisa is an advocate for empowering others. Dr. Pruitt is the author of Soul of a Professor: Memoir of an Un-engineered Life, Horse of Fire as told by JJ Luck, Savanna and the Magic Boots, as well as Mechanics of Biomaterials: Fundamentals for Implant Design.