The prestigious Distinguished Fellows program celebrates the accomplishments of Bagley College alumni and reconnects the honorees with the school and its engineering heritage. The award was presented yesterday evening at a banquet in Starkville, Miss.
Gilbert, who graduated from Mississippi State in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering, said he was humbled by the recognition.
“To be acknowledged among respected colleagues by my alma mater is special,” said Gilbert. “My experiences in undergraduate research at Mississippi State were instrumental in my going on to graduate school and an eventual career in higher education. A number of my mentors, as well as colleagues I have long admired, are Distinguished Fellows, so this was a true honor.”
After graduating from Mississippi State, Gilbert went on to earn a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Duke University. His research has been in orthopedic biomechanics, cellular mechanics, biomaterials, bone remodeling and osteoporosis, and was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and various other public and private sources.
Gilbert began his academic career in 1982 at North Carolina State University where he served as a visiting assistant professor of mechanical engineering. In 1983, he accepted a position as an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). While at UNC, he established the biomechanics research laboratory and also was a member of the faculty of biomedical engineering.
In 1988, he accepted a faculty position at Mississippi State and attained the rank of professor five years later. For 10 years he was a research affiliate with the Institute of Neurocognitive Science and Technology at Mississippi State, and was among the first class of Mississippi State’s honors faculty in the Shackouls Honors College. From 1989-2005, he also served as clinical assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery (research) for the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
At Mississippi State, he served as head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and coordinator for the biomedical engineering graduate program in the Bagley College. While he was the department head, he helped establish the school’s undergraduate concentration and the master’s and doctoral programs in biomedical engineering.
Gilbert went on to be Mississippi State’s associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs, before being promoted to provost and executive vice president in 2010.
He was named president of Marshall University in October 2015 and assumed the office in January 2016.
He is a former national president of the Institute of Biological Engineering and is a member of numerous other professional societies. He is a Fellow in the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Institute of Biological Engineering.