MACON — The world’s largest electrical engineering society has awarded a professor in Mercer University School of Engineering professor its highest undergraduate teaching honor. IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, has named Clayton R. Paul as the winner of its 2007 Undergraduate Teaching Award “for sustained excellence and creativity in the preparation of instructional material and inspirational teaching of undergraduate engineering students.”
Paul, the Sam Nunn Eminent Professor of Aerospace Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Mercer, will receive the award at the 2007 IEEE Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility in Hawaii in June.
“The 2007 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award is a clear confirmation of outstanding instruction in the Mercer School of Engineering,” said Dean M. Dayne Aldridge. “Dr. Paul is not only an exceptional instructor, but he is also a leader who encourages and sets high standards for all of our faculty members. We are all honored by this international recognition of Dr. Paul’s accomplishments.”
A world-renowned authority in electromagnetic theory, Paul has been responsible for many seminal advancements in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). His contributions in modeling and quantifying interference on cabling between systems have laid the foundation for today’s benchmark methods used for assessing and mitigating electromagnetic interference (EMI) in complex wire and cable arrangements. He is professor emeritus of electrical engineering at the University of Kentucky, where he served on the electrical engineering faculty for 27 years. His course on EMC at the University of Kentucky was among the first of its kind. He has published 15 textbooks and more than 150 papers and reports.
In the spring, Paul published the second edition of his highly successful textbook about electronic interference, Introduction to Electromagnetic Compatibility, with John Wiley Interscience. The first edition sold more than 19,000 copies — a tremendous number for a specialized text — and the book has become the handbook for electromagnetic compatibility. The first edition was translated into Japanese and Italian and a new deal has been signed to translate the second edition into Chinese.
A Fellow of the IEEE, Dr. Paul is the only two-time recipient of the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society’s Richard Stoddard Award for Outstanding Performance. He is also an honorary life member of the IEEE EMC Society.
“This is a huge honor for me, but it is an award for the School of Engineering as well,” Paul said. “This bears on our distinctive focus on undergraduate education, differentiating us from research universities, such as Georgia Tech. We strive to be the ‘premier undergraduate engineering teaching institution in the Southeast.’ So a teaching award of this magnitude helps show the world that we excel at that, and I’m proud to have won it.”
About the Award:
The IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award is a Technical Field Award of the Institute established by the Board of Directors in 1990 to honor teachers of electrical and electronics engineering and the related disciplines, “for inspirational teaching of undergraduate students in the fields of interest of the IEEE.” Selection criteria include such contributions as curriculum development, authorship of course materials, involvement with students and faculty in advisory capacities, as well as “attracting students to engineering and scientific professions, and preparing them for effective careers in engineering and the sciences.”
About the IEEE:
The IEEE has more than 375,000 members in approximately 150 countries. Through its members, the organization is a leading authority on areas ranging from aerospace, computers and telecommunications to biomedicine, electric power and consumer electronics. The IEEE produces nearly 30 percent of the world’s literature in the electrical and electronics engineering, computing and control technology fields. This nonprofit organization also sponsors or cosponsors more than 300 technical conferences each year. Additional information about the IEEE can be found at http://www.ieee.org.
About the School of Engineering and Mercer University:
Named one of the top undergraduate engineering schools in the Southeast by U.S. News & World Report for the past eight years, the Mercer School of Engineering is known for producing graduates ready to work in the industry and government. The School’s innovative curriculum emphasizes teamwork as well as opportunities to gain hands-on experiences. Mercer engineering graduates are known for their strong communication skills, as Mercer is one of few engineering institutions in the nation to house a Technical Communication Department within the Engineering School.
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University has 7,300 students; 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies; major campuses in Macon and Atlanta and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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