Brandon Henry, a Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering, has been awarded a prestigious Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship for Achieving Excellence in College and University Teaching beginning the 2007-2008 academic year. Through its program of Diversity Fellowships, the Ford Foundation seeks to increase the diversity of the nation’s college and university faculties.

Predoctoral fellowships are awarded in a national competition administered by the National Research Council (NRC) on behalf of the Ford Foundation. They are awarded to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panels, have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.

Brandon is a member of the Bio-MEMS and Microsystems Research Laboratory under Professor Shekhar Bhansali in the Department of Electrical Engineering. His PhD research involves biochemical and cellular responses to biotic/abiotic interfaces. He joins Dorielle Price (Electrical Engineering) in the MEMS research group as the only two USF students ever to receive this coveted distinction.