Biomedical engineering professor Kristen O’Halloran Cardinal has received Cal Poly’s 2025-26 Provost’s Leadership Award for Partnership in Philanthropy, recognizing her long-standing relationships that have advanced faculty research and expanded opportunities for students.

Cardinal has generated more than $500,000 in philanthropic support during her time at Cal Poly, along with significant equipment donations and industry partnerships. Those contributions have strengthened biomedical engineering research, senior and master’s projects, and access to emerging technologies.

“It is an honor to be recognized for helping bring resources and support to the cutting-edge work that we do in BMED,” Cardinal said. “This award also belongs to the people who have so generously supported my research lab and our students.”

Among Cardinal’s most significant efforts is her more than 15-year relationship with researcher and longtime collaborator Dr. Lothar W. Kleiner. That partnership led to the creation of the $294,000 Kleiner Family Endowment for Applied Biomedical Engineering Scientific Research, which was completed ahead of schedule and exceeded its original fundraising goal.

The endowment advances Cardinal’s work during her tenure and will fund biomedical engineering research at Cal Poly in perpetuity. Kleiner has also contributed another $96,500 to her research.

Cardinal began building philanthropic partnerships early in her Cal Poly career. In 2010, three years after joining the faculty and shortly after the Biomedical Engineering Department was established, she worked with Jo Ellen Hose, Jim Hannah, Bert Forbes and Candee Forbes to create the Hannah-Forbes Fund, which supports student projects in biomedical engineering.
A $10,000 seed gift has grown into an enduring source of project funding. Through continued donor engagement, Cardinal has helped secure $142,000 in additional contributions to the fund. It has backed 224 senior and master’s projects involving more than 530 students.

Cardinal has maintained those connections through annual summaries and regular communication showing donors how their gifts advance student learning.

She has also secured more than $132,000 in private donations to her professional development fund. Those resources enable exploratory work in her tissue engineering research laboratory, giving students more opportunities to participate and helping position projects for externally funded grants and contracts.

Equipment donations Cardinal has cultivated during nearly two decades at Cal Poly range from foundational laboratory tools used throughout the biomedical engineering curriculum to automation technology associated with emerging areas of the field. The equipment allows students to work with tools and processes they may encounter in industry.

Cardinal’s engagement also extends to alumni. She organized the Biomedical Engineering Department’s first campus alumni gathering in 2025, bringing together more than 130 graduates and others from across Cal Poly. She has since helped launch regional events intended to deepen alumni connections with the department.

“I love being part of the BMED community, and I’m grateful for everyone who supports us,” Cardinal said. “I think this award reflects how much I and so many others care about the impact and value of biomedical engineering.”

Cardinal is also the principal investigator of Cal Poly’s $2.89 million, state-funded COMPASS program, which prepares undergraduate students for careers in the cell and gene therapy industry. Through the MEDITEC program, she has helped secure more than $1.5 million in industry funding for student-centered projects during the past 18 years.

The award recognizes faculty leadership that strengthens Cal Poly’s culture of giving and advances its academic mission.