Art Gmitro Appointed Chair of Biomedical Engineering Department

Dec. 8, 2014

Arthur F. Gmitro, a professor and researcher in the University of Arizona colleges of medicine and optical sciences, became chair of the UA College of Engineering department of biomedical engineering, or BME, effective Nov. 24. He succeeds associate professor and interim department head Urs Utzinger.

“Strongly supported by the University of Arizona provost and vice president for research, the appointment of Arthur Gmitro as head of the BME department reflects the University’s growing recognition of biomedical engineering’s increasing importance to effective health care,” said College of Engineering dean Jeff Goldberg. “This appointment will showcase the synergies between BME and other departments on campus, not only in the College of Medicine but throughout the University.”

He added, “Art is taking over from Urs Utzinger, who has given selflessly in his role as interim head of BME. He cannot be thanked enough for what he has done over the past couple of years.”

Gmitro, who has been on the UA faculty since 1987 and a full professor since 1996, is known to many in the College of Engineering. Generations of students have taken his courses in medical imaging and biomedical optics in the College of Optical Sciences. Faculty members know him through research collaborations, as a member of the UA Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Biomedical Engineering and from his service on the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program Advisory Committee, which he led from 2005 to 2006.