The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected 67 new members and 12 foreign members, announced NAE President C.D. (Dan) Mote Jr. today. This brings the total U.S. membership to 2,263 and the number of foreign members to 221.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature,” and to the “pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

A list of the newly elected members and foreign members follows, with their primary affiliations at the time of election and a brief statement of their principal engineering accomplishments. Among those elected was Dr. Cheryl Blanchard.

Dr. Cheryl Blanchard

Blanchard joined Microchips Biotech in July 2014 as its chief executive officer. She is a medical device and biologics executive with over 25 years of leadership experience. Most recently she was a corporate officer of Zimmer, Inc., a medical device company focused on musculoskeletal products, where she served as Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and general manager of Zimmer Biologics. During her 12 years with Zimmer, she operated in roles of increasing responsibility including global leadership of research and development, advanced technologies, clinical, quality and regulatory affairs, medical affairs, medical education, health economics, and reimbursement. She created, built and led the biologics business at Zimmer through disciplined execution of an R&D pipeline coupled with significant partnering and business development activities.

Prior to Zimmer, Dr. Blanchard built and led the medical device practice at Southwest Research Institute while also serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, both in San Antonio, TX. Some of her work led to the creation of Keraplast Technologies,LLC  Dr. Blanchard brings a unique combination of results-oriented business management skills, technical leadership, and a track record of commercializing game-changing products that address unmet needs.

Dr. Blanchard holds a Bachelor of Science in Ceramic Engineering from Alfred University, and a Masters of Science and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering, both from the University of Texas at Austin.