Tina Morrison was born in 1978 to her loving mother Diane in New Britain, CT. She grew up
with her two younger siblings, Dwight Jr. and Nicole. Tina attended St. Ann Middle School,
where she played basketball, studied French, and danced. Tina started high school in 1992 at
the E.C. Goodwin Vocational High School in New Britain, CT. During those formative years,
Tina was influenced by many of her teachers, but those she remembers most are Fred
Norton, Barbara Luchansky, and Mr. Gallagher.
Mr. Norton persuaded Tina to study Machine Drafting, and later advised her to become a
Mechanical Engineer. Mrs. Luchansky was her English teacher and provided Tina with
encouragement and support during her years at Goodwin Tech. Mr. Gallagher was the school
librarian, and also provided her support and encouragement. Tina spent many hours working
for the student government, designing and creating fliers for events, and volunteering in the
library. During her last two years, Tina was a member of State Student Advisory Council on
Education. One student from each district in CT was selected to represent their high school
and attend monthly meetings to discuss issues facing high school students. It was during
these years Tina decided on her college, met the Governor, and surfed the WWW (the
popular browser back then was Netscape). In high school, Tina was a member of the Math
Club, chair of the year book committee, a member of student government, a member of the
basketball team, and received a degree in Mechanical Drafting.
Upon graduating high school in May 1996, Tina entered the Mechanical Engineering program
at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. She received her bachelor’s degree, along with a
minor degree in Applied Mathematics. Upon graduation, the Mechanical Engineering
department invited her to participate in their Accelerated One Year Master’s program. She
completed her master’s with a concentration in Nonlinear Vibrations under the advising of Dr.
Kevin Murphy, with the financial support of the NASA Langley Research Center. In the spring
of 2002, Tina was accepted into the doctoral program in the department of Theoretical &
Applied Mechanics at Cornell University. The following year, she began her research training
in Nonlinear Dynamics under the guidance of Dr. Richard Rand. Following her first year of
research, she was invited to join NSF's IGERT program in Complex System Dynamics. Tina
TAed Calculus I and Differential Equations. She received her doctorate in 2006, with a minor
concentration in Applied Mathematics. Tina is the first in her family to graduate from college
and receive a Ph.D.She excitedly accepted the position. Following graduation, Tina was asked
to teach the summer course of Differential Equations. For her teaching endeavors, she
received the H.D. Block Award for Excellence in Teaching.
For the past two years, Tina lived in the Mission District in San Francisco, CA and was a
postdoctoral fellow in the Taylor Lab at Stanford University. Her research involved developing
and applying methods to quantify in vivo deformations of normal and diseased thoracic aortas
using gated-CT imaging data, which enables us to understand the biomechanical environment
and progression of disease of the aorta. She hopes to extend those methods to quantify in
vivo deformations of and loads on cardiovascular stents and stent-grafts from medical imaging
data. Finally, she will validate fluid-structure-interaction computer models of thoracic aortic
wall motion using gated-CT imaging data.
Currently, Tina is a Medical Device Fellow at the FDA at the Center for Devices and
Radiological Health. There, she is a scientific reviewer of the submissions to the FDA
regarding medical devices. She will equally spend her time working on the Critical Path
Initiative to implement computation methods in the design and evaluation of medical devices.
On her free time, she enjoys photography, dancing (especially with www.masdance.com) and
numerous outdoor activities (hiking, biking, walking, and swimming). The neighborhoods in
D.C. remind her of her favorite New England places, and the free museums are a plus!
with her two younger siblings, Dwight Jr. and Nicole. Tina attended St. Ann Middle School,
where she played basketball, studied French, and danced. Tina started high school in 1992 at
the E.C. Goodwin Vocational High School in New Britain, CT. During those formative years,
Tina was influenced by many of her teachers, but those she remembers most are Fred
Norton, Barbara Luchansky, and Mr. Gallagher.
Mr. Norton persuaded Tina to study Machine Drafting, and later advised her to become a
Mechanical Engineer. Mrs. Luchansky was her English teacher and provided Tina with
encouragement and support during her years at Goodwin Tech. Mr. Gallagher was the school
librarian, and also provided her support and encouragement. Tina spent many hours working
for the student government, designing and creating fliers for events, and volunteering in the
library. During her last two years, Tina was a member of State Student Advisory Council on
Education. One student from each district in CT was selected to represent their high school
and attend monthly meetings to discuss issues facing high school students. It was during
these years Tina decided on her college, met the Governor, and surfed the WWW (the
popular browser back then was Netscape). In high school, Tina was a member of the Math
Club, chair of the year book committee, a member of student government, a member of the
basketball team, and received a degree in Mechanical Drafting.
Upon graduating high school in May 1996, Tina entered the Mechanical Engineering program
at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. She received her bachelor’s degree, along with a
minor degree in Applied Mathematics. Upon graduation, the Mechanical Engineering
department invited her to participate in their Accelerated One Year Master’s program. She
completed her master’s with a concentration in Nonlinear Vibrations under the advising of Dr.
Kevin Murphy, with the financial support of the NASA Langley Research Center. In the spring
of 2002, Tina was accepted into the doctoral program in the department of Theoretical &
Applied Mechanics at Cornell University. The following year, she began her research training
in Nonlinear Dynamics under the guidance of Dr. Richard Rand. Following her first year of
research, she was invited to join NSF's IGERT program in Complex System Dynamics. Tina
TAed Calculus I and Differential Equations. She received her doctorate in 2006, with a minor
concentration in Applied Mathematics. Tina is the first in her family to graduate from college
and receive a Ph.D.She excitedly accepted the position. Following graduation, Tina was asked
to teach the summer course of Differential Equations. For her teaching endeavors, she
received the H.D. Block Award for Excellence in Teaching.
For the past two years, Tina lived in the Mission District in San Francisco, CA and was a
postdoctoral fellow in the Taylor Lab at Stanford University. Her research involved developing
and applying methods to quantify in vivo deformations of normal and diseased thoracic aortas
using gated-CT imaging data, which enables us to understand the biomechanical environment
and progression of disease of the aorta. She hopes to extend those methods to quantify in
vivo deformations of and loads on cardiovascular stents and stent-grafts from medical imaging
data. Finally, she will validate fluid-structure-interaction computer models of thoracic aortic
wall motion using gated-CT imaging data.
Currently, Tina is a Medical Device Fellow at the FDA at the Center for Devices and
Radiological Health. There, she is a scientific reviewer of the submissions to the FDA
regarding medical devices. She will equally spend her time working on the Critical Path
Initiative to implement computation methods in the design and evaluation of medical devices.
On her free time, she enjoys photography, dancing (especially with www.masdance.com) and
numerous outdoor activities (hiking, biking, walking, and swimming). The neighborhoods in
D.C. remind her of her favorite New England places, and the free museums are a plus!
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Created by Tina Morrison
June, 2007, Updated February 2009
June, 2007, Updated February 2009
Tina M. Morrison, PhD
