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Beth L. Pruitt is an American engineer.^[a][1] Upon completing her master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University, Pruitt served as an officer in the United States Navy. She is a full professor of mechanical engineering, biological engineering, and biomolecular science & engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara.^[2] She is a fellow of both ASME and AIMBE.^[3]

Pruitt completed her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a master's degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University. Upon completing her master's degree, Pruitt served as an officer in the United States Navy before re-enrolling at the institution for her PhD.^[4]

Upon earning her PhD in 2002, Pruitt worked on nanostencils and polymer microelectromechanical systems with the Laboratory for Microsystems and Nanoengineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.^[5] Following this, she returned to Stanford University for the 2003–04 academic year as the Reid and Polly Anderson Faculty Scholar in the School of Engineering.^[6] In this role, she started the Stanford Microsystems Laboratory^[5] and was a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Awards for her project "A Microsystems Approach to Cellular Manipulation and Interaction."^[7] In 2007, Pruitt was named the Principal investigator (PI) of a four-year project to learn how electrical, mechanical and chemical stimulation could be applied to stem cells to generate tissue for repairing damage.^[8] As a result of her research, Pruitt was promoted to the rank of associate professor of Mechanical Engineering on September 1, 2010.^[9] She was also the recipient of the 2010 Denice Denton Award from the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.^[10]

While serving in her role as an associate professor, Pruitt oversaw a team in developing electromechanical devices for use as high-speed force probes.^[11] The following year, she was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for "her work that includes a focus on creating micro-electrical systems to detect the minute forces that cells exert upon one another as they carry out the basic mechanics of life."^[12] She was also inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering "for outstanding contributions in microscale measurement technology for cell biomechanics and quantitative cell mechanobiology."^[13]

Pruitt was eventually promoted to the rank of Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering on April 1, 2017.^[14] She eventually left Stanford to become the CBE Director at the University of California, Santa Barbara. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pruitt was elected a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society as someone who had "demonstrated exceptional achievements and experience in the field of biomedical engineering."^[15]

• Beth Pruitt publications indexed by Google Scholar
• Faculty Page from UC - Santa Barbara Department of Bioengineering