James J. Collins Jr. '87
When MIT's Technology Review recently selected the “TR 100” - a list of “one hundred young innovators who exemplify the spirit of innovation in science, technology and the arts” - they chose James Collins as one of the best and the brightest in the field of biotechnology.
“Without James Collins,” the Review noted, “stochastic resonance might have ended up science trivia. … This kind of work has the potential to revolutionize areas like gene therapy.”
At the age of 35, Jim Collins has already made a name for himself as one of the most inventive researchers in the field of biomedical engineering. This will come as no surprise to those who knew him as a student at Holy Cross. As an undergraduate, he was a Dana Scholar, a Fenwick Scholar and the winner of the Presidential Service Award. He graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1987 as a physics major and was Valedictorian at that year's Commencement. A Rhodes Scholar, he earned a doctoral degree in medical engineering from Oxford University in 1990.
At an age when most people are just getting established in their careers, Jim has already amassed an impressive roster of awards and honors. He has been chosen as a Fellow at the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, a Fellow at the American Physical Society, and Professor of the Year at the College of Engineering at Boston University. In 1991, Jim won the American Society of Biomechanics Young Scientist Award.
He is a member of the Biological Engineering Society, the American Society of Biomechanics and the Society for Neuroscience. He serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Applied Biomechanics and CHAOS: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science. He is a consultant and reviewer for over 40 journals and 10 foundations. And he has been awarded 30 research grants and five separate patents.
Jim has published more than 60 original papers in scientific journals, written chapters for five books and delivered over 100 papers or abstracts at conferences all over the world. And all this before the age of 40.
Today, Jim is a professor in the department of biomedical engineering at Boston University as well as co-founder and co-director of The University's Center for BioDynamics.
For his brilliance, his groundbreaking research and the thrill of the promise of even greater things to come, the College of the Holy Cross presents to James J. Collins the Sanctae Crucis Award.