By Katharine Schilcutt
Special to Rice News
Rice University’s Gang Bao has been selected to receive the 2025 Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award from the American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for his sustained contributions to the mechanics of composites, cell mechanics and nanomedicine.
The Robert Henry Thurston Lecture was established in 1925 in honor of ASME’s first president and provides an opportunity for a leader in pure or applied science or engineering to present to the society a lecture that encourages stimulating thinking on a subject. Formal presentation of the award will take place during the ASME’s International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition this November in Memphis, Tennessee.
“I am extremely honored to receive this award named after Robert Henry Thurston, who was the first president of the ASME, a true visionary of engineering research and education,” said Bao, the A.J. Foyt Family Professor in Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering, chemistry and materials science and nanoengineering. “I was trained as a mechanical engineer, taught many courses in solid mechanics and cell mechanics and enjoyed doing research in mechanics of materials and biomechanics. I feel very privileged to have worked with and learned from many previous winners of this award, including professors John W. Hutchinson, Robert M. Nerem, Don P. Giddens, Zhigang Suo and Horacio D. Espinosa.”
Bao is a pioneer in nanomedicine, genome editing and cell mechanics. The nanoscale structures and devices engineered in his lab have broad-based applications in basic research to understand the underlying causes of disease as well as in the translation of nanoscale tools for disease diagnostics and treatment, such as targeted drug/gene delivery and cell-based therapies.
His ongoing projects are supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
“I would like to express my profound gratitude to ASME for the Robert Henry Thurston Lecture Award,” Bao said. “This is a recognition of the outstanding work by my students and postdocs. I have been very fortunate to work with my wonderful trainees and collaborators, and I would like to express my deep appreciation of their contributions.”