Aged photo of group of UT Austin medical students in hospital room

Department History

50 Years of Texas BME

From our beginnings as a fledgling program within other engineering departments at The University of Texas at Austin to becoming a nationally recognized department in our own right, the Department of Biomedical Engineering continues to evolve.

A Brief Timeline of Biomedical Engineering History


1960s

  • – Dean John McKetta sends a memorandum asking a faculty committee consisting of E.A. “Rip” Ripperger (Department of Aerospace Engineering), Ernest Gloyna (Dean Emeritus, Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering), Kenneth Bischoff (Department of Chemical Engineering) and a few others to start the program.
  • – Rip Ripperger becomes the first chair of the BME Program Committee.
  • – A set of graduate courses is selected, and the first students are enrolled in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a “Biomedical Engineering emphasis.”
  • – UT Austin receives its first National Institute of Health grant, awarded to Rip Ripperger.
  • – Thomas Runge requests that the St. David Hospital administration establish collaboration between the hospital and the “Bio-mechanical Department.”

1970s

  • – An official application is submitted by the BME Program Committee to the Graduate School, Faculty and Board of Regents for the establishment of the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in BME.
  • – Bob Popovich is hired from the University of Washington at Seattle as the first professor of biomedical engineering with an appointment in chemical engineering.
  • – Ken Diller is hired from MIT as the second professor of biomedical engineering with an appointment in mechanical engineering.
  • – The request for independent M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in BME is approved.
  • – Lee Baker is hired from Baylor College of Medicine as the first permanent director of the BME Program.

2000s

  • – The University of Texas at Austin establishes the Department of Biomedical Engineering, so that it can offer undergraduate degrees.
  • – Ken Diller becomes the first chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
  • – The department admits its first undergraduate class.
  • – The Biomedical Engineering Department graduates its first baccalaureate class.
  • – Construction is completed on the Biomedical Engineering Building.

2010s

  • – 50th anniversary of the formation of the Biomedical Engineering graduate program and 10th anniversary of the first graduating class of undergraduates.
  • – Nicholas Peppas becomes the second chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
  • – Shelly Sakiyama-Elbert becomes the third chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

2020s

  • – Tyrone Porter becomes the fourth chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
  • – The Department of Biomedical Engineering celebrates its 25th anniversary as a department at The University of Texas at Austin.

Early Days of BME

This video, made by UT Austin students in 1978, captures the early days of biomedical engineering.