Science & Tech

Pettigrew Inducted Into American Academy Of Arts And Sciences

A&M's executive dean for EnMed and CEO of EnHealth, Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, is being recognized in the area of Mathematical and Physical Sciences with a specialty in Engineering and Technology.
By Texas A&M University Division of Marketing & Communications September 27, 2022

roderic pettigrew portrait
Dr. Roderic Pettigrew,

Texas A&M Division of Marketing & Communications

Texas A&M University’s Dr. Roderic Pettigrew was this month inducted into the nation’s oldest and one of the most prestigious learned societies, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S).

Pettigrew serves the university as the inaugural dean for the School of Engineering Medicine and CEO of Engineering Health (EnHealth). In collaboration with Houston Methodist Hospital, Pettigrew created EnMed, which trains “physicianeers,” invention-minded physicians who blend engineering with the biological and physical sciences to tackle health care’s biggest challenges. EnMed is the nation’s first four-year, fully integrated engineering and medical education curriculum leading to both an M.D. and master’s degree in engineering. EnHealth is the nation’s first comprehensive educational program to fully integrate engineering into all health-related disciplines.

Pettigrew was elected to the AAA&S in 2020, but the induction was delayed due to the pandemic. He is being inducted in the area of Mathematical and Physical Sciences with a specialty in Engineering and Technology. He is known for pioneering work in four-dimensional imaging of the cardiovascular system using MRI technology.

“I am privileged to accept membership in this historic academy that so purposefully embraces and enhances the continuous circle of planetary life,” Pettigrew said. “The inclusion of the arts and the sciences in this society of difference-makers speaks to the understanding of the natural symbiosis of all walks of life in the pursuit of happiness … As a convergent scientist, I hope to be able to both share in and contribute to advancing global well-being and the joy of living for this and future generations.”

He joined Texas A&M in 2017 and holds the endowed Robert A. Welch Chair in Medicine. Pettigrew served 15 years as founding director for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Prior to that, he was a professor of radiology and medicine (cardiology) at Emory University School of Medicine and a professor of bioengineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Pettigrew is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors, and is an elected foreign fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Since arriving at A&M, Pettigrew has continued to receive honors including in 2019 when he won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Faculty Achievement Award and in 2020 when he was presented with the Vannevar Bush Award, one of the nation’s highest recognitions in science.

The AAA&S is the oldest learned society in the United States, founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock and 60 other scholar-patriots who “understood that a new republic would require institutions able to gather knowledge and advance learning in service to the public good.” The organization is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and notable members include Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King and Oprah Winfrey. The academy is an honorary society and an independent research center.

Media contact: Lesley Henton, lshenton@tamu.edu

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