Chih-Chang (C.C.) Chu received his PhD in chemistry from the Florida State University and then in 1978 he joined Cornell as an assistant professor in the College of Human Ecology Department of Design and Environmental Analysis, later called the Department of Textiles and Apparel. He is the first recipient of the Rebecca Q. Morgan ’60 endowed chair professor in January of 2009 and retired as the Rebecca Q. Morgan ’60 Professor Emeritus in January of 2021.

In the early 1990s Professor Chu helped establish Cornell’s biomedical engineering program. His multidisciplinary research involves the design, synthesis and evaluation of new biologic active biodegradable polymers for surgical repair of injured or diseased tissues and tissue regeneration like vascular grafts, drug-eluting stents, burn treatment, wound closure and drug control/release of both Chinese and western medicines for cancer therapy. He has focused on Tunable Immuno-responsive (TIR) polymeric biomaterials whose application can be used to treat highly inflammatory diseases.