6/5/2007 Brad Petersen, ECE Illinois
Two long-time ECE faculty members were recently invested during a special ceremony in a full auditorium at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications building on campus. Shun Lien Chuang was named a Robert C. MacClinchie Distinguished Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and J. Gary Eden became the first Gilmore Family Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Written by Brad Petersen, ECE Illinois
Two long-time ECE faculty members were recently invested during a special ceremony in a full auditorium at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications building on campus. Shun Lien Chuang was named a Robert C. MacClinchie Distinguished Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering and James Gary Eden became the first Gilmore Family Endowed Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Department Head Richard Blahut oversaw the proceedings, saying “I have the best job in the world. It’s a pleasure to be part of an event like the investiture we have today. I am deeply respectful of the impact these people have had on the world.”
Joe White, president of the University, also spoke, thanking donors Merle and Lisa Gilmore, who were present for the festivities, and the late Robert C. MacClinchie for their generosity. White also offered congratulations to Chuang and Eden, remarking that a professorship is among the very highest honors the University bestows upon its faculty.
Chuang, who has been at Illinois since 1983, has spent his career conducting research in the areas of optoelectronics, semiconductor devices physics, semiconductor lasers, modulators, quantum electronics, and electromagnetics.
“No one deserves this honor better than Shun Lien. He is a prolific researcher, has given over 100 talks, written highly-cited publications, and wrote the 1995 book Physics of Optoelectronics,” Weng Cho Chew commented. “Like all good scholars, he is also a great and exemplary teacher. He is the only teacher I know whose students stand up and clap at the end of the semester!”
An ECE faculty member since 1979, Eden’s research focuses on molecular and ultrafast spectroscopy, ultraviolet and visible lasers, high intensity optical field-matter interactions, and microcavity plasma devices.
“Gary is an outstanding scientist, an outstanding engineer, a consummate professional, and a most remarkable man,” ECE James J Coleman said during his remarks about Eden. “Gary will tell you modestly that he is just a physicist. He is indeed a fine physicist and recognized as such around the world. But don’t let his modesty fool you for a minute. He is most certainly also a fine engineer—and also recognized as such around the world. This balance is reflected in his work and his students are much the better for exposure to both of those worlds.”
The Gilmore Family Professorship was endowed by Merle and Lisa Gilmore. Merle is a 1970 ECE graduate. He joined Motorola after graduation and held numerous management positions there during the course of his career. He currently works for Ripplewood Holdings Japan, a private equity company.
The late Robert MacClinchie was a 1932 electrical engineering graduate. After a long career as an engineer, MacClinchie had a second calling and became an educator, teaching physics and mathematics at Olivet College in Olivet, Michigan.
“What gives us the confidence, or chutzpa, to say we want to be the preeminent public research institution? It’s our professors,” said Ilesanmi Adesida to close the event.