Professor Allan Hoffman studied at M.I.T., where he received B.S., M.S., and Sc.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering between 1953 and 1957. He taught on the faculty of the Chemical Engineering Department at M.I.T. for a total of ten years.

For the past 44 years he has been Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. He is also an Honorary Professor at: Sichuan University, Chengdu, China; South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China; Shanghai University, Shanghai, China; and Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. He recently completed a four year appointment (2009-2013) as WCU Distinguished Professor at the Kyungpook National University Medical School in Daegu, South Korea.

Prof. Hoffman’s major research interests are drug delivery, diagnostic assays, “smart” polymers, hydrogels, and modification of biomaterial surfaces. He has published over 400 peer-reviewed articles and is coinventor on over 30 issued patents. He is co-Editor (along with BD Ratner, FJ Schoen and JE Lemons) of the “Textbook of Biomaterials Science”, Elsevier Publishers, now in its 3rd Edition.

Prof. Hoffman was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2005. Other recognitions and awards include the following: He was elected President of the US Society for Biomaterials in 1983. In 1990, the Japanese Society for Biomaterials awarded him their “Biomaterials Science Prize”, the first time it had ever been given to a foreigner. He received the Founder’s Award of the Society for Biomaterials (USA) in 2000. In 2003 he received the Chandra Sharma Award of the Society for Biomaterials and Artificial Organs of India. In 2006 the Japanese Society of Polymer Science (JSPS) awarded him their prestigious “International Polymer Research Award”. In 2007 he received the Founder’s Award of the US Controlled Release Society. Special symposia have been organized to celebrate his 60th, 70th and 80th birthdays.