Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic holds the title of University Professor, Columbia University’s highest rank reserved for a small number of faculty who have made important contributions to their field of study and serve the university as a whole. She is a leading expert in engineering of functional human tissues for regenerative medicine and modeling of disease. She trained over 150 graduate students and postdocs, many of which now hold the academic and executive positions. With over 41,000 citations and h=115, she is one of the most highly cited individuals of all times, in all disciplines. An entrepreneur, she founded four biotech companies. Vunjak-Novakovic has given 400 invited lectures, published 380 referred journal articles and 70 book chapters, and is a co-inventor on 90 licensed, issued and pending patents. She is a frequent advisor on to the federal government and industry. Among her many distinctions, she is a member of the Academia Europaea, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Inventors, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.