Spectrum - Volume 17 Issue 19 February 9, 1995 - Ferrari to head BDEE

Spectrum Logo
A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

Ferrari to head BDEE

Spectrum Volume 17 Issue 19 - February 9, 1995

Leonard A. Ferrari, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Irvine, will become head of the Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering (EE), effective July 1.

"Leonard Ferrari has the experience, enthusiasm, and vision that made him a natural to serve as our next department head," said Gary Brown, professor of EE and head of the search committee. "The Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering has been blessed in the past with outstanding heads and we fully expect that Dr. Ferrari will continue this tradition."

Ferrari said he was attracted to the Virginia Tech position because of the "progressive" engineering programs at the Blacksburg campus.

"Virginia Tech is a balanced university, with outstanding research and progressive educational programs. It is a model university," Ferrari added.

Ferrari received his bachelor's degree in 1963 from MIT. He earned his master's degree from Northeastern University, Boston, and his doctorate from the University of California, Irvine. All three degrees are in electrical engineering.

After receiving his doctorate in 1980, Ferrari joined the faculty of the University of California at Irvine. For three years, 1990-93, he served as the chair of the electrical and computer engineering department.

He has received the Unocal Foundation Research Award, the UCI School of Engineering Outstanding Research Award, and the National Research Service Award of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.

Ferrari has served as the co-chair of the conference committee for the IFIP Conference on Visualization in Scientific Computing: Uses in University Education; the general chair of the SPIE Conference on Curves and Surfaces in Computer Vision and Graphics; and the session chair of the 24th Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers.

Ira Jacobs, professor of EE, has served as the interim department head for the 1994-95 academic year. He accepted the one-year appointment after F.W. Stephenson, the former department head, was selected dean of the college.