6/29/2019 Ananya Sen
The University of Illinois recognizes the excellence of Brad Sutton, professor in Bioengineering, with the 2019 University Scholar award.
Written by Ananya Sen
In recognition of his outstanding service to the University of Illinois, Brad Sutton, professor in Bioengineering, has been named a University Scholar.
The University Scholar award recognizes excellent faculty members who represent the epitome in research, teaching and service. Only 12 professors receive the award each year across all three campuses. Recipients receive $15,000 per year for three years to be used for travel, equipment, research assistantships, books or other purposes that aid the awardees in their scholarly endeavors. The university will present the award to Sutton at a campus reception in September 2019.
“I am very grateful for the award and its recognition. I am also grateful for the excellent colleagues who have shown me the way,” Sutton said. “I am surrounded every day by faculty and staff who truly enjoy training the next generation of scientists and engineers to address the grand challenges ahead.”
Sutton started his academic career at Illinois as an assistant professor in Bioengineering in 2006 and rose to become a professor in 2017. He also serves as the technical director of the Biomedical Imaging Center at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. Sutton is affiliated with the Department of Bioengineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Neuroscience Program, and the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine. He is an author on more than 115 papers and holds nine patents.
He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in General Engineering and followed that with an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, all at the University of Michigan.
Sutton is known as a leader in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and his research interests include developing MRI methods to understand the structure and function of the brain and its age-related changes, imaging blood flow and mechanical properties of the brain, and developing techniques to understand how the brain controls muscles during speech and swallowing.
In addition to his research, Sutton has made numerous contributions to the university. His teaching abilities have frequently earned him a position in the list of teachers ranked as excellent by students, and his innovative, outstanding teaching earned him the Provost’s campus award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2015. He has served on several committees including the Provost’s committee of the Teaching Advancement Board and the College of Engineering Associate Heads committee. The Beckman Institute presented him with its Vision and Spirit Award in 2018 for exemplifying institute founder Arnold Beckman's vision of excellence, interdisciplinarity and collaboration. And Sutton’s extensive teaching experience led to his recruitment as a faculty member of the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine, where he helped develop the curriculum.