# Beth Pruitt

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Beth_Pruitt
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Beth_Pruitt.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Pruitt
> Source revision: 1354176329
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Beth L. Pruitt** is an American [engineer](/source/Engineer).[a][1] Upon completing her [master's degree](/source/Master's_degree) in manufacturing systems engineering from [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University), Pruitt served as an officer in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy). She is a full professor of mechanical engineering, biological engineering, and biomolecular science & engineering at the [University of California, Santa Barbara](/source/University_of_California,_Santa_Barbara).[2] She is a fellow of both [ASME](/source/ASME) and [AIMBE](/source/AIMBE).[3]

## Early life and education

Pruitt completed her [bachelor's degree](/source/Bachelor's_degree) in mechanical engineering from the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) and received a [master's degree](/source/Master's_degree) in manufacturing systems engineering from [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University). Upon completing her master's degree, Pruitt served as an officer in the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) before re-enrolling at the institution for her PhD.[4]

## Career

Upon earning her PhD in 2002, Pruitt worked on nanostencils and polymer microelectromechanical systems with the Laboratory for Microsystems and Nanoengineering at the [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology](/source/ETH_Zurich).[5] Following this, she returned to [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University) for the 2003–04 academic year as the Reid and Polly Anderson Faculty Scholar in the School of Engineering.[6] In this role, she started the Stanford Microsystems Laboratory[5] and was a recipient of the [National Science Foundation CAREER Awards](/source/National_Science_Foundation_CAREER_Awards) for her project "A Microsystems Approach to Cellular Manipulation and Interaction."[7] In 2007, Pruitt was named the [Principal investigator](/source/Principal_investigator) (PI) of a four-year project to learn how electrical, mechanical and chemical stimulation could be applied to stem cells to generate tissue for repairing damage.[8] As a result of her research, Pruitt was promoted to the rank of [associate professor](/source/Associate_professor) of Mechanical Engineering on September 1, 2010.[9] She was also the recipient of the 2010 Denice Denton Award from the [Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology](/source/AnitaB.org).[10]

While serving in her role as an associate professor, Pruitt oversaw a team in developing electromechanical devices for use as high-speed force probes.[11] The following year, she was elected a Fellow of the [American Society of Mechanical Engineers](/source/American_Society_of_Mechanical_Engineers) for "her work that includes a focus on creating micro-electrical systems to detect the minute forces that cells exert upon one another as they carry out the basic mechanics of life."[12] She was also inducted into the [American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering](/source/American_Institute_for_Medical_and_Biological_Engineering) "for outstanding contributions in microscale measurement technology for [cell biomechanics](/source/Cell_biomechanics) and quantitative cell mechanobiology."[13]

Pruitt was eventually promoted to the rank of Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering on April 1, 2017.[14] She eventually left Stanford to become the CBE Director at the [University of California, Santa Barbara](/source/University_of_California,_Santa_Barbara). During the [COVID-19 pandemic](/source/COVID-19_pandemic), Pruitt was elected a Fellow of the [Biomedical Engineering Society](/source/Biomedical_Engineering_Society) as someone who had "demonstrated exceptional achievements and experience in the field of biomedical engineering."[15]

## Footnotes

1. Her research interests have been described as laying at "the intersection of mechanobiology, microfabrication, engineering and science"

1. ["Beth Pruitt"](https://me.ucsb.edu/people/beth-pruitt). *Mechanical Engineering - UC Santa Barbara*. 2018-03-08. Retrieved 2023-06-10.

1. ["Beth L. Pruitt | Biological Engineering | UC Santa Barbara"](https://bioengineering.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/beth-l-pruitt). *bioengineering.ucsb.edu*. Retrieved 2023-06-10.

1. ["Beth Pruitt"](https://www.aiche.org/sbe/community/bio/beth-pruitt). *www.aiche.org*. 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2023-06-10.

1. ["Beth L. Pruitt"](https://bioengineering.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/beth-l-pruitt). *bioengineering.ucsb.edu*. Retrieved May 25, 2021.

1. ["Beth L. Pruitt"](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/37397057100). *[IEEE](/source/IEEE)*. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["President's Report to the Board of Trustees"](https://news.stanford.edu/news/2003/december10/prezrept-1210.html). *news.stanford.edu*. December 10, 2003. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["CAREER: A Microsystems Approach to Cellular Manipulation and Interaction"](https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0449400&HistoricalAwards=false). *nsf.gov*. February 9, 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. Orenstein, David (October 17, 2007). ["Multidisciplinary team gets $2 million"](https://news.stanford.edu/news/2007/october17/pruitt-101707.html). *news.stanford.edu*. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["Report of the President: Academic Council Professoriate Appointments"](https://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/october/report-of-president-101310.html). *news.stanford.edu*. October 13, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Announces Record-Breaking Turnout"](https://www.benzinga.com/press-releases/10/10/b503341/grace-hopper-celebration-of-women-in-computing-announces-record-breakin). *benzinga.com*. October 1, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["Bio-X researchers develop new technology to study hearing"](https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2014/01/bio-x-researchers-develop-new-technology-to-study-hearing.html). *med.stanford.edu*. January 7, 2014. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. Abate, Tom (April 10, 2015). ["Beth Pruitt elected a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers"](https://engineering.stanford.edu/news/beth-pruitt-elected-fellow-american-society-mechanical-engineers). *engineering.stanford.edu*. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["Beth L. Pruitt to be Inducted into Medical and Biological Engineering Elite"](https://aimbe.org/press/Pruitt-COF-2034.pdf). *aimbe.org*. January 20, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["Report of the President: Appointments and promotions"](https://news.stanford.edu/2017/06/21/report-of-the-president-3/). *news.stanford.edu*. June 21, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2021.

1. ["Beth Pruitt elected to the 2020 BMES Class of Fellows"](https://bioengineering.ucsb.edu/news/all/2020/beth-pruitt-elected-2020-bmes-class-fellows). *bioengineering.ucsb.edu*. July 31, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2021.

## External links

- [Faculty Page](https://bioengineering.ucsb.edu/people/faculty/beth-l-pruitt) from UC - Santa Barbara Department of Bioengineering

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Beth Pruitt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Pruitt) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Pruitt?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.