Humayun Named Inaugural Holder Of New Chair In Medicine And Engineering

January 20, 2009

Mark Humayun, professor of ophthalmology, cell and neurobiology, and biomedical engineering at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the Doheny Eye Institute and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, was named the inaugural holder of the Cornelius J. Pings Chair in Biomedical Sciences in a ceremony at Town and Gown on Jan. 14.

Humayun was presented with the honor by USC President Steven B. Sample at a dinner attended by colleagues, the Pings family and deans Carmen A. Puliafito of the Keck School and Yannis C. Yortsos of USC Viterbi.

The newly created Pings Chair is an honorary university-wide professorship named for a former provost and USC professor of chemical engineering. Pings, who passed away in 2004, served as USC’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs from 1981 to 1993. As provost, Pings directed the academic and research programs at USC and is credited with leading the university through one of its most significant periods of growth.

His leadership extended nationally as president of the Association of American Universities in the 1990s, when he oversaw the publication of the “Pings Report,” a critical review of costs associated with federal support of research on university campuses.

“I did not know Neal Pings personally, but I wish I had,” Humayun said in accepting the chair. “It is clear that throughout his tenure, Neal Pings exhibited incredible energy, integrity, clarity of thought and rigorous standards of excellence.”

In presenting the honor, Sample said that Pings and Humayun shared much in common. “Both men have used their skills and talents to teach and explore the mysteries of our world and to improve the quality of human life,” he said.

Sample cited Humayun’s research into retinal degeneration, macular degeneration and other diseases of the retina. But more specifically, Humayun was recognized for his work as co-inventor of the retinal prosthesis—an implantable artificial retina that has restored partial sight to blind patients.

Humayun and his research, Sample said, were in the vanguard “combining biomedical craftsmanship with the healing arts.”

Representing the Pings family was Cornelius Pings’ wife, Marjorie, who said that USC was a very special part of her late husband’s life. She laughed that her husband did not always enjoy public events, “but I have a funny feeling,” she said, “he just might be watching [tonight].”

Humayun credited his research colleagues for this honor, thanking both deans and C. L. Max Nikias, USC’s current provost and executive vice president, for their support. He also praised the interdisciplinary environment at USC that has allowed him to take his engineering research and apply it directly to help those who need it most.

“As an engineer, it gives me great excitement to develop new diagnostics and therapies using state-of-the-art principles of engineering and physics,” he said. “As a physician, it gives me great pleasure to see these devices help patients, many of whom have no foreseeable cure.”