Engineering Professor Elected Vice President of Global Organization

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Samir El-Ghazaly.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Samir El-Ghazaly, Distinguished Professor of electrical engineering, has been selected to serve as vice president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, and chair of its publications services and products board. IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization, with more than 420,000 members in more than 160 countries.

El-Ghazaly’s term as vice president begins Jan. 1, 2017. As vice president, he will be responsible for leading and overseeing the organization’s publications, which include approximately 180 transactions, journals and magazines. El-Ghazaly will also represent IEEE in the scholarly publishing community.

El Ghazaly has been a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering since 2007. His leadership and research experience spans academia, industry and government. He has trained and worked at several universities and research centers, including the University of Texas at Austin, where he received his doctorate, Arizona State University, Cairo University in Egypt, the Université de Lille in France, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and the Swiss Federal Research Institute.

From 2013 through 2016, El-Ghazaly served as the director of the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems at the National Science Foundation. This division supports research in areas of critical importance for the U.S. economy and the defense industry, with an annual budget of around $115 million.

“Dr. El-Ghazaly is a respected faculty member and a valuable ambassador for the University of Arkansas,” said John English, dean of the College of Engineering. “The College of Engineering is honored to have one of our professors serving in such an important and visible role, and I know Dr. El-Ghazaly will make great contributions to IEEE as vice president.”

El-Ghazaly's research has focused on microwave and millimeter-wave semiconductor devices and circuits, semiconductor device simulations, electromagnetics, antennas, and numerical techniques applied to monolithic microwave integrated circuits. He has authored or co-authored five book chapters and nearly 200 publications.

About the College of Engineering: The University of Arkansas College of Engineering is the largest engineering program in the state of Arkansas. Over the past decade, the college has experienced unprecedented growth. Undergraduate enrollment has doubled since 2007, and total enrollment in the college is now over 4,000 students. The College of Engineering offers graduate and undergraduate degrees in nine engineering fields, as well as incorporating distance learning and interdisciplinary programs. Faculty in the college conduct research in many key areas, including electronics, energy, healthcare logistics, nanotechnology, transportation and logistics.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.