Kumar: Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Professorship: Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Franklin W. Woeltge was born on August 16, 1903, in St. Louis, the son of Frank and Laura Woeltge. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1926 with a B.S. in electrical engineering. While a student at the university, he was a member of the Alpha Beta Chapter of Theta Xi, which he in 1922, the year the fraternity was established. He also participated in the Electrical Engineering Society, the American Institute of Electrical Engineering, and the University of Illinois Band.

Mr. Woeltge worked as an engineer in the Avionics and Space Division of Emerson Electric, retiring in 1963. He was an avid reader, dancer and follower of the stock market.

He died on December 3, 1998, at the age of 95, leaving behind no family. Yet the years that he spent at the University of Illinois - the only period in his life when he lived outside of St. Louis - clearly meant a great deal to Mr. Woeltge. In his will, he made a substancial bequest to the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, making possible the establishment of the Franklin W. Woeltge Professorships.

Faculty: Panganamala Kumar

Panganamala Kumar is an expert in the field of systems, studying their modeling, design, and analysis. His work has applications in wireless networks, manufacturing systems, machine learning, automatic control, and financial economics. He joined the ECE faculty in 1985. He is the co-author of the book "Stochastic Systems: Estimation, Identification, and Adaptive Control," which was published in 1986.

"It is simultaneously an honor and a humbling experience to receive such an award at an institution through whose portals so many great people have passed," Kumar said at the investiture ceremony.