2025 Hall of Fame Inductees

Grier graduated from UCI with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, focusing on structures, in 1991. Right after college, he was hired as a structural engineer by Fluor, a large global engineering, procurement and construction company. Fluor funded his graduate studeis, allowing him to attend evening classes to earn a master's degree in structural engineering with an emphasis in seismic engineering in 1994. Although he lives primarily in Mission Viejo, Grier has lived in Philadelphia, Houston, Calgary, Vancouver, Milan, Abu Dhabi, Manila and is currently based in Copenhagen. He has also traveled extensively for work, both domestically and internationally, leading large, complex projects in advanced manufacturing, energy and energy transition.

Grier enjoys mentoring new engineers through Fluor’s Mentor Circle programs. Early in his career, he began visiting elementary, middle and high schools during National Engineers Week, sharing his passion and encouraging students to pursue careers in STEM. He has continued this work for over 30 years, inspiring thousands of students and appreciating their energy, creativity and curiosity.

In 2019, Grier was invited to become Fluor’s Global University Sponsor Program (GUSP) executive for UCI. In this role, he worked with the Samueli School of Engineering to identify programs, scholarships and other funding opportunities to support. In 2023, he took on the responsibility of overseeing Fluor’s worldwide GUSP program, which includes over 25 universities and their respective executive sponsors. He accepted this role on the condition that he would maintain his connection with UCI. Grier then became active in the UCI Engineering Alumni Society, where he developed the Professional Development Workshop, Battle of the Deans Trivia Challenge and Wine Tasting events to raise funds for scholarships. He has also been heavily involved with the Dean’s Leadership Council.

Grier has been married to Shelley, whom he met in high school when they were juniors, for 34 years. They have three children: Andrew (24), Justice (18) and Ryan (11). He is deeply grateful to his parents, teachers and mentors for the guidance, motivation and support they’ve provided. Focused on giving back, Grier is committed to helping others grow both personally and professionally, so they, too, can have the same opportunities he did.

At Tufts, Peyton leads an interdisciplinary group of engineers and molecular cell biologists seeking to create and apply novel biomaterials platforms toward new solutions to grand challenges in human health. Her lab's unique approach is using their engineering expertise to build simplified models of human tissue with synthetic biomaterials. They use these systems to understand 1) the physical relationship between metastatic breast cancer cells and the tissues to which they spread, 2) the role of the extracellular matrix and its dynamics in drug resistance, and 3) how to create bioinspired, mechanically dynamic and activatable biomaterials. 

Among other honors, Peyton was a 2013 Pew Biomedical Scholar, received a New Innovator Award from the NIH, and was awarded an NSF CAREER grant. She is a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Peyton is passionate about graduate student training and diversifying the academy. She was awarded an Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Engineering at UMass in 2018, has led an REU Site, co-directed a Biotechnology NIH T32 training program, and was lead principal investigator of a PREP program at UMass, which hosts students from historically excluded groups for a one-year research-intensive program to help prepare them for graduate school. She also runs an NSF-funded program called Engineering the Cell, which brings female high school students to her lab for five weeks every summer. 

Outside of her work, Peyton is an avid cyclist, enjoys board games, travel and is a retired ultimate frisbee player.