Lance Black, MD, MBID has been appointed the inaugural Harold J. Haynes ’46 Endowed Chair at Texas A&M University’s School of Engineering Medicine (EnMed). The appointment recognizes his leadership in helping students, faculty, and industry partners work together to turn bold ideas into real health care solutions, positioning EnMed to expand its impact in the years ahead.
Black’s Impact on Engineering Medicine and Health Care Innovation
Black serves as senior associate dean of innovation and strategic projects at EnMed, where he leads efforts to translate student-driven ideas into tangible health care solutions. His work focuses on ensuring student innovations have a viable path from concept to clinical and market impact.
He was selected as the Haynes Chair in recognition of his contributions to EnMed’s innovation ecosystem and his role in advancing programs that move medical device and digital health technologies beyond ideation and into development, testing, and early validation.
EnGen: Supporting Biomedical Startups and Health Care Entrepreneurs
One example of this work is EnGen, the program’s incubator for biomedical and health care startups, providing students with structured access to mentorship, industry expertise, and translational resources. Black also works closely with faculty to support high-impact, interdisciplinary programs that connect engineering and medicine through applied innovation.
Benefits of the Endowed Chair for Students and Faculty
The Harold J. Haynes ’46 Endowed Chair provides dedicated support for faculty leadership and program priorities essential to sustaining and expanding EnMed’s distinctive educational approach.
For students, the chair strengthens access to mentorship, industry engagement, and resources designed to lower barriers to experimentation and support early-stage innovation. For faculty, it enables greater capacity to collaborate across disciplines, guide translational research, and develop programs that align education with practical health care outcomes. The chair reinforces innovation and translation as core components of EnMed’s educational mission.
“EnMed was built not just to connect engineering and medicine, but to make that integration operational through innovation,” said Black. “This chair strengthens our ability to teach students how deep technical expertise in both domains translates into real health care solutions, from concept to clinic. The support allows me to expand mentorship, industry partnerships, and commercialization pathways that help move ideas into the hands of patients. I’m grateful to the Haynes family for investing not only in EnMed, but in a model that turns interdisciplinary training into real-world impact.”
Support of Texas A&M and EnMed Through the Haynes Family
The Harold J. Haynes ’46 Endowed Chair was established through the generosity of the Haynes family, whose longstanding support of Texas A&M University reflects a deep commitment to student success and academic excellence. Reta Haynes has been a dedicated supporter of EnMed, drawn to its unique approach to educating physicians with engineering expertise.
“Not that long ago, when the Texas A&M Engineering Medicine Program was introduced, I was fascinated by the concept of a four-year graduate opportunity where students would earn their Doctor of Medicine degree and a Master of Engineering,” said Reta Haynes. “I wanted to help students in the program with financial support and established several endowed scholarships to this end. This allowed me to be involved and follow several students through their four years. I transferred funds across TAMU and seized the opportunity to support EnMed and a faculty member as the Haynes Chair recipient, knowing that the earnings would be put to good work. The EnMed program has been very successful and is something that we can all be quite proud of.”
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