Kristi S. Anseth Named NAE Simon Ramo Founders Award Recipient

Kristi S. Anseth has been named recipient of the 2025 Simon Ramo Founders Award by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) “for outstanding contributions to new bioresponsive polymeric materials and their applications in tissue engineering and for leadership in biomaterial science education and research.” She will be presented with the award at the 2025 NAE Annual Meeting on Oct. 5 in Washington, D.C.

Established in 1965, the Simon Ramo Founders Award honors an exceptional NAE member or international member who exemplifies the Academy’s ideals and principles through their professional, educational, and personal achievements.

Kristi Anseth is a leading researcher and innovator in biomaterials, recognized for her pioneering work in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. She is an inventor of bioresponsive polymers — materials that can guide or suppress specific cell functions — to engineer tissues and promote regeneration. Her research has advanced understanding of how certain cells exchange and receive information, leading to discoveries in the design of biomaterial scaffolds that could potentially assist in tissue and organ regeneration, and in the future, possible new treatments for heart disease and neurodegeneration. Bridging chemistry, biology, and engineering, her work integrates fundamental science with practical biomedical applications to overcome major challenges in regenerative medicine and advance therapies that improve patient health, recovery, and overall well-being.

Anseth is a distinguished professor, the Tisone Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and associate director and head of academic leadership at the BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder). Anseth came to CU Boulder after earning her B.S. degree from Purdue University, her Ph.D. degree from the University of Colorado, and completing postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an NIH fellow.

Anseth’s laboratory has published more than 420 peer-reviewed papers and trained over 150 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. She is a member of all three National Academies — Engineering (2009), Medicine (2009), and Sciences (2013) — and has also been elected to the National Academy of Inventors (2016) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019).

Beyond her scientific contributions, Anseth has been recognized with more than 50 major awards and delivered over 60 honorary lectureships worldwide. Recent honors include the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award in the Life Sciences (2020) and the VinFuture Special Prize for Women Innovators (2024). She has also provided leadership across the scientific community, serving on boards and committees for organizations such as the Materials Research Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Acta Materialia, the Gordon Research Conferences, and the National Institutes of Health, and at the National Academy of Engineering, where she has held numerous leadership roles including chair of the Bioengineering Section.

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Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. Its mission is to advance the welfare and prosperity of the nation by providing independent advice on matters involving engineering and technology, and by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and public appreciation of engineering.