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University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Grainger College of Engineering
Electrical & Computer Engineering

Chairs, Professorships, and Faculty Scholars

Chairs

The endowed chair represents the highest honor the university can confer on faculty members. Endowed chairs help attract and retain brilliant scholars by providing them dedicated resources for innovative research and teaching opportunities.

Faculty Named Chairs
Tamer Başar Swanlund Endowed Chair
Stephen Allen Boppart Grainger Distinguished Chair of Engineering
Brian T Cunningham Intel Alumni Endowed Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Bruce Hajek Leonard C. and Mary Lou Hoeft Endowed Chair in Engineering
Jianming Jin Y. T. Lo Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering
David Malcolm Nicol Herman M. Dieckamp Endowed Chair in Engineering

Professorships

Named professorships allow Illinois ECE to recruit and retain promising researchers and teachers and encourage them to expand their careers here. The income from named professorships may be used to supplement a professor’s salary or support his or her research needs.

Faculty Professorship
Jennifer Truman Bernhard Donald Biggar Willett Professor in Engineering
Yoram Bresler Founder Professor in Engineering
Andreas C Cangellaris M. E. Van Valkenburg Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Deming Chen Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering
Kent D Choquette Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering
Minh N Do Thomas and Margaret Huang Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ravishankar K Iyer George and Ann Fisher Distinguished Professor of Engineering
Farzad Kamalabadi Kung Chie and Margaret Yeh Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Jean-Pierre Leburton Gregory Stillman Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Xiuling Li Donald Biggar Willet Professor of Engineering
Zhi-Pei Liang Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Daniel M Liberzon Richard T.  Cheng Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Joseph W Lyding Robert C. MacClinchie Distinguished Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Olgica Milenkovic Franklin W. Woeltge Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Elyse Rosenbaum Melvin and Anne Louise Hassebrock Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Naresh R Shanbhag Jack S. Kilby Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Andrew Carl Singer Fox Family Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Rayadurgam Srikant Fredric G. and Elizabeth H. Nearing Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Venugopal Varadachari Veeravalli Henry Magnuski Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Pramod Viswanath Gilmore Family Endowed Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Yurii A Vlasov Founder Professor in Engineering
Martin D F Wong Edward C. Jordan Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Faculty Fellows & Scholars

Illinois ECE faculty fellows and scholars appointments are given to signify a distinction beyond that implied by a normal professorship, notably to faculty members earlier in their careers. These faculty members exhibit exceptional commitment to both teaching and research and are among the highest priority for support and retention.

Faculty Named Faculty Fellow and Scholars
Alejandro Dominguez-Garcia William L. Everitt Scholar in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Songbin Gong Intel Alumni Fellow in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Pavan Kumar Hanumolu Intel Alumni Scholar in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mark Allan Hasegawa-Johnson William L. Everitt Scholar in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Pierre Moulin Sony Faculty Scholar
Sanjay Jeram Patel Sony Faculty Scholar
Maxim Raginsky William L. Everitt Fellow in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Romit Roy Choudhury W.J. "Jerry" Sanders III - Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Scholar in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Alexander Gerhard Schwing W.J. “Jerry” Sanders III- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc Fellow in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Lara Waldrop Y.T. Lo Fellow in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Zhizhen Zhao William L. Everitt Fellow in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Emeritus Chairs & Professorships

Faculty Named Chair or Professorship
Ilesanmi Adesida Donald Biggar Willett Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Narendra Ahuja Donald Biggar Willett Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Richard E Blahut Henry Magnuski Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Weng Cho Chew George and Ann Fisher Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Engineering
James J Coleman Intel Alumni Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
James Gary Eden Intel Alumni Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Milton Feng Nick Holonyak, Jr., Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Karl Hess Swanlund Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Nick Holonyak, Jr John Bardeen Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Physics
Wen-Mei W Hwu AMD Jerry Sanders Chair Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Douglas L Jones William L. Everitt Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Philip T Krein Grainger Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electric Machinery and Electromechanics in Electrical and Computer Engineering
P R Kumar Franklin W. Woeltge Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
William D O'Brien, Jr. Donald Biggar Willett Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Thomas J Overbye Fox Family Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Janak H Patel Donald Biggar Willett Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
N Narayana Rao Edward C. Jordan Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
William H Sanders Herman M. Dieckamp Endowed Chair Emeritus in Engineering
Peter Sauer Grainger Chair Emeritus in Electrical Engineering
Mark W Spong Donald Biggar Willett Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Benjamin W Wah Franklin W. Woeltge Professor Emeritus in Electrical and Computer Engineering

World-class faculty are critical to the success of Illinois ECE. Faculty support is crucial to maintaining the department’s stature as one of the best in the world.

Our top giving priority for faculty is the Faculty Catalyst Award Fund.

Illinois ECE seeks to attract more than 40 top faculty members in the next five years. As it does so, the department must compete with peer institutions and top corporations who not only offer competitive salaries, but also start-up funding.

These start-up packages act as catalytic agents, helping new faculty with the resources they need to create, equip, and initiate cutting-edge laboratories to launch their careers. The average start-up package is about $500,000. Therefore, our goal is to raise $20 million to hire the best and brightest faculty.

Gifts toward the Faculty Catalyst Award Fund will enable the next generation of Illinois ECE legendary faculty, who will shape the minds of students for decades to come.

You may choose to support the fund in one of three ways:

  • Add to the Faculty Catalyst Award Fund
  • Establish and name your own Faculty Catalyst Award (each $250,000 gift will be matched)
  • Combine both a Faculty Catalyst Award and an endowed faculty scholar, professorship, or chair

In addition, attracting and retaining top faculty salaries by endowing faculty scholars, professorships, or chairs is crucial for supporting salaries and honoring top faculty in the department. We currently have more than 25 endowed faculty positions, named for legends like Kilby, Bardeen, Holonyak, Van Valkenburg, Everitt, and Lo.

You may choose to establish an endowed faculty position at one of these levels:

  • Endowed faculty scholar ($250,000)
  • Endowed professorship ($500,000)
  • Endowed chair ($2 million)
  • Endowed department head ($4 million)

To establish your own fund or for more information, please contact us.

Contact Us

Nikki Slack

Heather Vazquez

Senior Director of Advancement
1060 ECE Building
(217) 333-2517
hfv@illinois.edu

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