The University System of Georgia Board of Regents has appointed Andres Garcia, professor of the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineeing at Georgia Tech, as a Regents’ Professor.

"Andres' work in biomaterials and tissue engineering is seminal, " said Bill Wepfer, Chair of the Woodruff School. "Andres is a great colleague and is fun to be around which is why he is such a great advisor, mentor, and role model for our students!"

A Regents' Professorship title represents the highest academic status bestowed by the University System of Georgia. It is meant to recognize a substantial, significant and ongoing record of scholarly achievement that has earned high national esteem over a sustained period.

Garcia was recognized for his work with biomaterials, his excellence in research, teaching and service, and his leadership role in bioengineering education on campus and biomaterials research around the world. Garcia has established an internationally recognized program on engineering novel biomaterials and cell-delivery vehicles for regenerative medicine applications, including bone repair, vascularization, inflammation, and tissue morphogenesis. His research integrates engineering principles with cell and molecular biology to provide fundamental insights into mechanisms regulating cell-material interactions and constitute creative approaches to the engineering of bioactive materials for enhanced tissue repair. He has published over 140 peer-reviewed publications in top-tier bioengineering and bioscience journals, including Science Translational Medicine, PNAS, Biomaterials, Advanced Materials, and Molecular Biology of the Cell. These papers have been cited over 4,700 times.

The Regents’ Professors titles are awarded by the Board of Regents, which governs the University System of Georgia, upon the unanimous recommendation of the president, the chief academic officer, the appropriate academic dean and three other faculty members named by the president, and upon the approval of the chancellor and the committee on academic affairs.