Society for Biomaterials founding member and former president (1979-80), Dr.  Larry Hench of the Florida Institute of Technology, will be honored by the Cade Museum of Creativity and Invention.  The museum will honor Dr. Hench with a permanent display once the museum is built.  In 1969, Dr. Hench discovered Bioglass, the first man-made material to bond to living tissues. Materials used in medicine or dentistry prior to this discovery were only tolerated by the body and created a non-adherent fibrous layer isolating living tissues from the foreign material. The concept of bioactive bonding pioneered by Dr. Hench’s discovery unleashed the field of biomedical materials to innovation that has led to countless second and third generation materials and devices and revolutionized the approach to repair and regeneration of the body.  Dr. Hench is also author of a series of children’s books, featuring Boing-Boing the Bionic Cat, that are  being used in the US and England to promote interest in science, engineering and technology in school children.

Dr. Hench has received many awards including: the prestigious TMS Acta Materiala J. Herbert Holloman Award and Acta Biomateriala Gold Medal; the Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award for Basic Research in Biomaterials and the Society for Biomaterials Founders Award.