Ellen Arruda is a distinguished professor in Engineering at the University of Michigan, serving as the Tim Manganello/BorgWarner Department Chair and Maria Comninou Collegiate Professor of Mechanical Engineering. She holds joint appointments as Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Professor of Macromolecular Science and Engineering. Arruda received her B.S. in Engineering Science with honors from Pennsylvania State University in 1985, M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Pennsylvania State University in 1988, and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992. Since joining the University of Michigan faculty, she has advanced through significant roles, culminating in her current leadership as Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering.

Her research focuses on the mechanical behavior of materials including polymers, elastomers, polymer composites, nanocomposites, and soft tissues, encompassing tissue engineering of tendon and muscle constructs, constitutive modeling of growth, remodeling, and functional adaptation in soft tissues, high strain rate responses of polymers for automotive crashworthiness, nanoscale design and analysis of tough nanocomposites, soft tissue biomechanics, knee biomechanics, and design of blast and impact resistant materials and structures. Key publications include "A three-dimensional constitutive model for the large stretch behavior of rubber elastic materials" (Arruda and Boyce, 1993, Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids), "Ultrastrong and stiff layered polymer nanocomposites" (Podsiadlo et al., 2007, Science), and "Constitutive models of rubber elasticity: a review" (Boyce and Arruda, 2000, Rubber Chemistry and Technology). Her scholarship has amassed over 18,000 citations with an h-index of 52, underscoring her influence in polymer mechanics, tissue mechanics, and tissue engineering. Arruda has earned prestigious honors such as election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2017, the A.C. Eringen Medal from the Society of Engineering Science in 2021, the ASME Nadai Medal in 2019, the James R. Rice Medal in 2018, membership in the AIMBE College of Fellows in 2022, fellowships in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Society of Engineering Science in 2008, and the American Academy of Mechanics in 2009, along with the NSF CAREER Award from 1997 to 2002 and the University of Michigan Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award in 2014.

Professional Email: earruda@umich.edu