Dear Rice colleagues,
I am writing to share the sad news that Larry McIntire, a central figure in the founding of Rice’s Department of Bioengineering and an international leader in bioengineering research and education, died Jan. 23 at the age of 85.
Larry earned his doctorate from Princeton University and joined Rice in 1970. He served as the inaugural chair of Rice’s bioengineering department, led the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, and was the E.D. Butcher Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering. During his time at Rice, he played a key role in building research partnerships across disciplines and with the Texas Medical Center.
His research focused on tissue engineering, specifically in the cardiovascular system. He earned numerous recognitions, including election as a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 1992, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998 and a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2001.
Larry’s Rice colleagues remember him as a “remarkable scholar and a guiding force in our community” as well as an “outstanding leader” in his field who lent his influence to support the careers of his former students. He cited their achievements as leaders in the field as some of his proudest accomplishments.
He left Rice in 2003 to become the Wallace H. Coulter Chair of the joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. His legacy at Rice continued through the Larry McIntire Research Fund in Bioengineering, established during his lifetime. The fund honors his role in building the department and supporting generations of students and researchers.
I invite you to read more about his career in Rice News.
Warm regards,
Amy Dittmar, Howard R. Hughes Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs