Tejal Ashwin Desai (born June 3, 1972) is Sorensen Family Dean of Engineering at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. Prior to joining Brown, she was the Deborah Cowan Endowed Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

, Director of the Health Innovations via Engineering Initiative (HIVE), and head of the Therapeutic Micro and Nanotechnology Laboratory. She was formerly an associate professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

(2002–06) and an assistant professor at

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...

(1998–2001). She is a researcher in the area of therapeutic

micro Micro may refer to: Measurement * micro- (μ), a metric prefix denoting a factor of 10−6 Places * Micro, North Carolina, town in U.S. People * DJ Micro, (born Michael Marsicano) an American trance DJ and producer * Chii Tomiya (都宮 � ...

and

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

and has authored and edited at least one book on the subject and another on

biomaterials A biomaterial is a substance that has been engineered to interact with biological systems for a medical purpose – either a therapeutic (treat, augment, repair, or replace a tissue function of the body) or a diagnostic one. The corresponding f ...

. In January 2022, she was appointed the dean of

’s

School of Engineering Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional development, professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (Diploma in Engineering, Dip.Eng.)and Bachelor of Engineering, ( ...

. She succeeded inaugural dean, Lawrence Larson in September 2022.

Early life and education

Desai was born on June 3, 1972, in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as of ...

, to Indian parents. She spent most of her childhood in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

. Desai attended

, which allowed her to pursue both liberal arts courses as well as undergraduate courses in biomedical engineering. She received a Sc. B. from Brown in

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...

in 1994. In 1998 she graduated with a Ph.D. from the joint

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life ...

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

Bioengineering department, advised by Mauro Ferrari.

Honors and awards

She was elected a fellow of the

American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It represents 50,000 medical and Biomedical engineering, biomedical engineers, and academic i ...

in 2012., fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), fellow of the Controlled Release Society (CRS), and she is a member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

, and the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 201 ...

Select publications

* * *

Advocacy

Desai is a vocal advocate for inclusion and equity in STEM. She was recognized by the Northern California AWIS Judith Poole Award and the UCSF Chancellors Award for the Advancement of Women. As president of

, she led advocacy efforts for increased scientific funding and addressing workforce disparities in science/engineering.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Desai, Tejal A. 1972 births Living people American academics of Indian descent American nanotechnologists Brown University School of Engineering alumni University of California, San Francisco alumni University of Illinois Chicago faculty Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering Members of the National Academy of Medicine