while the emphasis for biomedical engineering and/or bioengineering at columbia university and ucsd are relatively new, studies on properties of such "biological" materials and events as bone, blood flow, articular cartilage date back to galileo (1632), harvey (1670), borelli (1680), and benninghoff (1900), respectively. indeed, the word biology did not appear in the learned literature until the late 19th century. galileo laid the foundation of mechanics in his book on the two new sciences in the last decade of his life while under house arrest in pope urban viii's apartment in rome. in this book the seeds of strength of material and kinematics were sown, later to be formulated by isaac newton after galileo's death which occurred in 1642, which is the same year newton was born. today, there is no doubt of the singularly influential role played by professor y.c. fung of ucsd in the development of the bioengineering discipline in america. also, important roles were played by professor richard skalak (the namesake for this memorial lecture series), and professor shu chien, both formerly columbia university professors, in enhancing the ucsd bioengineering program nationally and internationally. professor fung, in a stroke of genius, was able to recruit skalak and chien to relocate from columbia to ucsd in 1988; this event, and the whitaker foundation, forever changed the landscape of bioengineering in america. today, ucsd's bioengineering graduate research program is without doubt one of the most recognized in the world. in this lecture, i will present this short history, as well as my own role in establishing one of the best biomedical engineering departments in the world at columbia university.