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The University of Utah's most prestigious faculty award goes to Chris Johnson, a computer scientist credited with helping make Utah a hot spot for biomedical imaging and engineering computation.
"There is no one who typifies the overall spirit and respected reputation of the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence more than Chris Johnson," U. President Michael Young said in announcing the award Friday during commencement exercises. "His contributions to the U. as a gifted teacher, administrator and world-renowned researcher are invaluable and his work in extending the power and science of computing has quite simply transformed the way we live."
The prize is a fitting addition to Johnson's hefty résumé of accomplishments and past honors. He is best known for helping establish the U.'s Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute in the early 1990s with the goal of using computers to tackle some of the trickiest problems in engineering and medicine.
"Since I was young, I've been interested in understanding how individuals accomplish great things. I've learned that the secret is not so much individual talent as persistent hard work and, especially, interdisciplinary teamwork," Johnson, who is married to Utah's poet laureate Katharine Coles, said in a news announcement. "Over the years, scores of colleagues, staff, students and visionary administrators from different departments and colleges have contributed to the work of the SCI Institute. This award is a tribute to them all."
Johnson received his doctorate in biophysics and computing and his master's in physics from the U. and graduated with a bachelor's in physics from Wright State University in 1982.
The Rosenblatt prize comes with a $40,000 gift, drawn from an endowment established in 1983 by the Joseph and Evelyn Rosenblatt family to honor the civic leadership and generosity of Joseph's parents, Nathan and Tillie Rosenblatt, who immigrated to Utah from Russia a century earlier. Recent winners include historian Robert Goldberg, director of the Tanner Humanities Center, and physicist Valy Vardeny.
U. appointments » Director and founder, Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, or SCI; co-director, Center for Integrative Biomedical Computing; distinguished professor of computer science; research professor of bioengineering; adjunct professor of physics; Brain Institute's advisory board.
Past honors » Young Investigator's Awards from both National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation; fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.
Research interests » Adapting computers to manipulate vast amounts of data in ways that unravel some of the trickiest problems in science, engineering and medicine. Johnson's expertise lies in using visualization to address crucial biomedical questions.