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= Grace O'Connell = Grace Divine O’Connell (born November 16, 1982) is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley.

Early life and education
O’Connell was born on November 16, 1982, in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania to Yeshimebet O’Connell (née Ferede) and David O’Connell. O’Connell’s mother immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia. O’Connell’s parents met at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where both received degrees in computer science.

O’Connell grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. O’Connell earned her bachelor’s degree in 2004 for Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland. She earned her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009 for Bioengineering and continued her training as a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University.

Career and research
She began her career at the University of California, Berkeley in 2013 as an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering; she was appointed as the Don M. Cunningham Professor from 2016-2019. In addition to her position as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, she is an Adjunct Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco.

O’Connell’s research focuses on soft tissue biomechanics, multi-scale modeling, and tissue engineering. O’Connell was recognized for her scientific contributions through multiple awards, including the NSF CAREER award and YC Fung Young Investigator Medal given by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In 2021, O’Connell was inducted into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE Fellow), which recognizes the top 2% of engineers in bioengineering or biomedical engineering. In 2021, O’Connell was appointed as the associate dean for Inclusive Excellence in the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley. As the associate dean, her office worked with Berkeley faculty and students, K12 instructors, and statewide policy makers to increase access to STEM education to students from under-resourced schools. O’Connell’s office also led professional development programs for undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff.

Honors and awards
Notable awards include


 * Society of Women Engineer (SWE) Award for Mathematics (2000)
 * Inducted into Sigma Gamma Tau (honor society for Aerospace Engineering, 2004)
 * National Institutes of Health Pre-doctoral Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania (NIH F31, 2008)
 * Grainger Foundation Frontiers of Engineering Grant through the National Academy of Engineers (2015)
 * Minner Faculty Fellow in Engineering Ethics and Professional/Social Responsibility, University of California, Berkeley (2016)
 * ACS Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Young Investigator (2017)
 * Diablo Magazine’s 40 Under 40 (2017)
 * Journal of Biomechanical Engineering Editors Choice Paper for 2017 for the paper titled “A Novel Method for Repeatable Failure Testing of Annulus Fibrosus” (2017)
 * NSF CAREER Award (2018)
 * ASME YC Fung Young Investigator Award (2019)
 * ASME Henry Hess Early Career Publication Award (2019)
 * UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Award for Public Service (2021)
 * University of Maryland’s College of Engineering Early Career Distinguished Alumni (2022)