astronomy

Steven R. Little

Steven R. Little is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Steven R. Little rather than just read about it. In short: Steven R. Little (born 1977) is an American chemical engineer and pharmaceutical scientist.

Key takeaways

Steven R. Little belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Steven R. Little to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Steven R. Little from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Steven R. Little (born 1977) is an American chemical engineer and pharmaceutical scientist. He currently holds the title of department chair, distinguished professor, and George M. and Eva M. Bevier Endowed Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. He also holds secondary appointments in bioengineering, pharmaceutical sciences, immunology, ophthalmology and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

Education Little received his BS in chemical engineering from Youngstown State University, and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studying under Institute Professor Robert S. Langer. His dissertation was “Poly(β-Amino Ester)s as pH Sensitive Biomaterials for Microparticulate Genetic Vaccine Delivery.”

Research Following his PhD in 2005, Little joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh John A. Swanson School of Engineering in 2006 as an assistant professor. He was promoted to the rank of associate professor as well as chair of the department of chemical engineering in 2012; William Kepler Whiteford Endowed Professor in 2015; and distinguished professor by Chancellor Patrick Gallagher in 2021. In 2024 he was appointed the Swanson School's George M. and Eva M. Bevier Endowed Chair. His research focuses on therapies that are biomimetic and replicate the biological function and interactions of living entities using synthetic systems. Areas of study include bioengineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, ophthalmology, and immunology, and the health issues addressed include autoimmune disease, battlefield wounds, cancer, HIV, Type I Diabetes, ocular disease, and organ transplantation. He is the Principal Investigator of Little Lab, housed in Benedum Hall of Engineering, and the co-founder of Qrono Inc., a pharmaceutical startup company based in Pittsburgh and focused on next generation cancer treatments.

Awards and honors Little was elected as a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society in 2015; the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2016; and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and National Academy of Inventors in 2021. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) elected him as Fellow in 2022, and Little was among eight members of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) selected for elevation to Fellow status in 2024. In 2025 he was elected Fellow of AICHE. Little was elected to the board of directors of the Society for Biomaterials and served in that role from 2013-2015. In June 2018 the Controlled Release Society appointed Little to its board as a director-at-large through 2021. In 2012, the Society for Biomaterials named Little as the recipient of its Young Investigator Award and in 2018 the Controlled Release Society named Little the recipient of its Young Investigator Award. The Controlled Release Society in 2020 elected Little to its College of Fellows and followed in 2021 by presenting Little with its Distinguished Service Award. Little has received over 40 national and international awards including:

American Heart Association Career Development Award (2007) NIH Research Career Development (K) Award (2007) Beckman Young Investigators Award from the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation (2008) Coulter Translational Research Award (2011) Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar, The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation (2012) University of Pittsburgh's Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award (2012) Research to Prevent Blindness Innovative Ophthalmic Research Award (2014) Carnegie Science Award for Advanced Materials (2015) Curtis W. McGraw Research Award from the American Society for Engineering Education(2015) Controlled Release Society Young Investigator Award (2018) Pittsburgh Award, ACS Pittsburgh Section (2018) Controlled Release Society College of Fellows (2020) Controlled Release Society Distinguished Service Award (2021) His teaching awards include the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award and a Carnegie Science Award for Post-Secondary Education. Community recognition includes Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 Under 40, named a “Fast Tracker” by the Pittsburgh Business Times, and one of five individuals in Pittsburgh who are “reshaping our world” by Pop City Media.

Humanitarian causes Little serves on the board of directors for EduNations, an organization that establishes educational infrastructure by building schools, training teachers and providing children with free education in Sierra Leone, Africa.

References

External links Swanson School of Engineering profile

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Steven R. Little

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Steven R. Little claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Steven R. Little before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Steven R. Little ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Steven R. Little

In research: Steven R. Little appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Steven R. Little in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Steven R. Little is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1977 births, American chemical engineers, Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Steven R. Little outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Steven R. Little in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Steven R. Little means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Steven R. Little out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Steven R. Little in simple terms?

Steven R. Little (born 1977) is an American chemical engineer and pharmaceutical scientist.

Why does Steven R. Little matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Steven R. Little?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Steven R. Little.