NEWS
NORMAN, OKLA. – The University of Oklahoma has announced Wei R. Chen, Ph.D., as director of the Peggy and Charles Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME). He has served as Stephenson Chair and professor of SBME and became its interim director last year.
“Dr. Chen is a leader in both biomedical engineering and our OU community, and we’re pleased to have him guide our Stephenson School as it enters its next decade,” said John Klier, Ph.D., dean of the Gallogly College of Engineering.
Under Chen’s leadership, the school will continue its transformational work in health care education and research. SBME was founded in 2016 and welcomed its 10th undergraduate class this fall. Before joining the University of Oklahoma in 2020, Chen served as professor of biomedical engineering and dean of the College of Mathematics and Science at the University of Central Oklahoma.
His contributions toward cutting-edge cancer research, including the treatment of late-stage, metastatic cancers and the mechanisms behind antitumor immune responses, earned him the title of Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors last year. Chen has also received numerous other awards and honors, including Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics and Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. As the state’s flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information about the university, visit www.ou.edu.
The University of Oklahoma Board of Regents today approved new bachelor’s degrees for its Online Campus and introduced a limited number of reduced credit hour degree programs in high-demand fields for its on-campus students, ensuring students have more options than ever to graduate faster, reduce costs, and enter Oklahoma’s workforce with the skills employers need most.
The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine has named Kelly Stratton, M.D., FACS as associate dean for veterans affairs, pending approval by the OU Board of Regents.
The University of Oklahoma announced the students named to its fall 2025 honor roll, a distinction given to those who achieve the highest academic standards. A total of 12,401 students were named to the fall 2025 honor roll. Of these students, 5,156 were named to the President’s Honor Roll for earning an “A” grade in all their courses.
