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 Native Nations Center for Tribal Policy Research at the University of Oklahoma will launch its first Sovereign Policy Intensive in September, a new program designed for elected tribal officials that focuses on understanding broadly relevant federal systems grounded in departmental structures, legislation and appropriations, and legal frameworks.
For 46 years and counting, G. Frans Currier, D.D.S., M.S.D., M.Ed., has been a faculty member at the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry. This year, the American Association of Orthodontists recognized his service with a conference named in his honor and the opportunity to give a lecture to his fellow orthodontists from around the nation.
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History at the University of Oklahoma recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its current building’s public opening, as well as its impact on the university, state and beyond.
