Larry McIntire, Ph.D.

Larry McIntire, who shaped the trajectory of the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University as its second chair, died on January 23, 2026. 

McIntire served as Coulter Department chair from 2003 to 2013, guiding the young joint enterprise through a critical period of growth and international recognition. He was a faculty emeritus who influenced the broader biomedical engineering community for more than five decades. 

“Larry was an exemplar researcher, teacher, leader and colleague,” said Alyssa Panitch, Coulter BME chair. “His impact on our department can be felt everywhere, from the outstanding teaching facilities, the well-integrated structure of the joint Emory/Georgia Tech department, the makeup of the faculty, and the collegiality that makes Coulter BME such a wonderful place to work, learn, and be a scholar.  He will be missed by his Coulter BME family.”

Expanding a Young Program

When McIntire arrived in 2003 to lead the joint department, he brought deep experience as a scholar and institution builder from Rice University, where he had chaired both Bioengineering and the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering. At Georgia Tech and Emory, he expanded a distinctive model — uniting engineering and medicine across a public–private partnership — that would become a national exemplar for translational research and education.

Under his leadership, BME accelerated collaborations between clinicians and engineers, strengthened graduate and undergraduate education, and advanced high‑impact research in areas including biomechanics, imaging, cellular and tissue engineering, and nanomedicine. 

Colleagues often described McIntire as a “matchmaker” of ideas and people — a leader who had a rare talent for connecting individuals with complementary expertise to spark impactful work. He cultivated environments where collaborations could flourish, from informal workshops pairing Emory clinicians with Georgia Tech engineers to strategic international initiatives. 

“He was a quiet person. He did not talk a lot,” remembered Cheng Zhu, Regents' Professor and Executive Director for International Programs in Coulter BME. “He had vision and a very clear mind on what he thought was right and he did it.”

A Mentor To Many

Colleagues and former trainees remember McIntire as a generous mentor who fostered interdisciplinary teams long before “team science” became the norm. At Emory and Georgia Tech, he convened workshops where clinicians described real medical problems and engineers outlined enabling technologies, catalyzing collaborations that yielded first‑in‑kind devices, imaging tools, and therapeutics. This culture of purposeful matchmaking — bringing people and ideas together —remains a hallmark of the Department. 

“His work opened the door for me and countless others,” said Wilbur Lam, the W. Paul Bowers Research Chair, who was hired by McIntire 15 years ago. “Luckily enough for me, Larry saw that an unvetted physician engineer fresh out of training with barely any experience, funding, or publications to his name could be an asset to our BME department,”

Lam added, “In essence, I owe my entire career to Larry and whatever modicum of success I personally have enjoyed can largely be attributed to him.” 

Kemp said McIntire will be remembered not only for his scientific and administrative leadership but also for his warmth, mentorship, and authenticity. 

“I was very fortunate that Larry guided the formative years of my faculty career,” she said. “He was a seasoned leader and very astute at recognizing long-term impact. His scientific vision of where biomedical engineering was heading greatly influenced how the GT/Emory program — as a young department — was able to arrive at the cutting edge of the field.”