3/24/2008 Lauren Eichmann, ECE Illinois
ECE alumnus Steven Sample, the president of the University of Southern California (USC), has been honored with the 2008 IEEE Founders Medal.
Written by Lauren Eichmann, ECE Illinois
ECE alumnus Steven Sample, the president of the University of Southern California (USC), has been honored with the 2008 IEEE Founders Medal. The medal is bestowed on one recipient annually for "outstanding contributions in the leadership, planning and administration of affairs of great value to the electrical and electronics engineering profession." According to an IEEE citation, Sample is specifically being recognized "for leadership in higher education and the engineering profession, and for pioneering contributions to consumer electronics." The award consists of a gold medal, bronze replica, certificate, and honorarium.
Sample, who has a bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD in electrical engineering from Illinois, was formerly the president of the University of Buffalo in New York for nine years before becoming the tenth president of USC in 1991. He is also a tenured professor in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, and has written a Los Angeles Times bestselling book about leadership that the Toronto Globe and Mail chose as one of the top 10 business books of 2001.
The USC Web site reports that "not only has Sample been the driving force behind USC’s unprecedented gain in academic stature since 1991, but he also invented a digital electronic control system that has been installed behind the touch panels of more than 500 million microwave ovens and other home appliances worldwide."
In 1998 Sample was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions to consumer electronics and leadership in interdisciplinary research and education. Sample has also received countless other recognitions including the ECE Distinguished Alumni Award and University of Illinois Alumni Achievement Award, and in 2005 achieved Eminent Member status by Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) - the 100-year-old national honor society for electrical and computer engineering.
The IEEE Founders Medal was established by the Institute of Radio Engineers in 1952, and first awarded in 1953. Recipient selection is administered by the IEEE Medals Council of the IEEE Awards Board after nominations are submitted. Outstanding leadership, planning, or administration of affairs related to the profession, major industry administrator, and manager of a complex scientific mission are among the evaluation criteria for the award.