J. David Irwin

Biography

Dave Irwin was born in Minneapolis MN. He moved to Montgomery AL as a child and grew up there. He attended Auburn University and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories prior to moving back to Auburn AL where he currently resides.

Dave is currently a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Auburn University. Education: B.E.E. Auburn University, 1961, M.S. and PhD, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1962 and 1967, respectively.

In 1967 Dave joined Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc., Holmdel, NJ, as a member of the Technical Staff and was made a Supervisor in 1968. He joined Auburn University in 1969 as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering. He was made an Associate Professor in 1972, Associate Professor and Head of the Department in 1973, and Professor and Head in 1976. From 1982 to 1984 he was Professor and Head of EE and CS. In 1993, he was named Earle C. Williams Eminent Scholar and Head. He served as Head of the ECE Department for 36 years. He is currently the Earle C. Williams Eminent Scholar in ECE.

Dave’s professional activities include the following: he has served the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) Computer Society as a member of the Education Committee and as Education Editor of Computer. He has served as Chairman of the Southeastern Association of Electrical Engineering Department Heads and the National Association of Electrical Engineering Department Heads and is past president of both the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society and the IEEE Education Society. He is a life member of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society AdCom and has served as a member of the Oceanic Engineering Society AdCom. He served for two years as Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Southeastern Center for Electrical Engineering Education, Inc. and was president of the organization in 1983/84. He has served as an IEEE Adhoc Visitor for ABET Accreditation teams. He has served as a member of the IEEE Educational Activities Board, and was the Accreditation Coordinator for IEEE in 1989. He has served as a member of numerous IEEE committees including the Lamme Medal Award Committee, the Mulligan Education Medal Committee, the Fellow Committee, the Nominations and Appointments Committee, the Admission and Advancement Committee, the Education Society's McGraw Hill/Jacob Millman Award Committee, and he chaired the Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching Award Committee. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the IEEE Press. He has also served as a member of the Secretary of the Army's Advisory Panel for ROTC Affairs and Nominations Chairman for the National Electrical Engineering Department Heads Association. He is also a member of the Board of Governors and past President of Eta Kappa Nu, the National Electrical and Computer Engineering Honor Society. He has been and continues to be heavily involved in the management of several international conferences sponsored by the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, and recently served as General Co-Chair for IECON'05, Raleigh, and Honorary Co-Chair for IECON'07, Taipei, IECON ’11 Melbourne, IECON ’12, Montreal and ISIE ’13, Taipei.

In the publication arena, he is author and co-author of numerous publications, papers, patents and presentations including eighteen textbooks, some of which are translated into foreign languages for use worldwide. These texts, that span a wide spectrum of engineering subjects, are published by Macmillan Publishing Company, Prentice Hall Book Company, John Wiley and Sons Book Company, CRC Press and the IEEE Press. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of a large handbook and Co-Editor-in-Chief of another, both of which are published by the CRC Press. He also serves the CRC Press as the Co-Series Editor for Industrial Electronics.

Dave has received a number of awards. He is a Life-Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) , a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He received an IEEE Centennial Medal in 1984. He was awarded the Bliss Medal by the Society of American Military Engineers in 1985. He received the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society's Anthony J. Hornfeck Outstanding Service Award in 1986, was named IEEE Region III (U. S. Southeastern Region) Outstanding Engineering Educator in 1989. In 1991 he received a Meritorious Service Citation from the IEEE Educational Activities Board, the 1991 Eugene Mittelmann Achievement Award from the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, and the 1991 Achievement Award from the IEEE Education Society. In 1992, he was named a Distinguished Auburn Engineer. In 1993, he received the IEEE Education Society's McGraw Hill/Jacob Millman Award, and in 1998 he was the recipient of the IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award. In 2000, he received an IEEE Third Millennium Medal and the IEEE Richard M. Emberson Award. In 2001, he received the American Society for Engineering Education's (ASEE) ECE Distinguished Educator Award. He was made an Honorary Professor, Institute for Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China in 2004. In 2005, he received the IEEE Education Society's Meritorious Service Award. In 2006, he received the IEEE Educational Activities Board Vice President's Recognition Award, in 2007 he was given the Auburn University Presidential Award for Excellence and the Diplome of Honour, University of Patras, Greece. In 2008 he received the IEEE-IES TC on Factory Automation's Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2010 he received the ECE Department Heads Association’s Robert M. Janowiak Outstanding Leadership and Service Award. He recently received the 2013 IEEE James H. Mulligan Jr. Education Medal. In addition, he was elected to the following honor societies: Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu, Pi Mu Epsilon, and Omicron Delta Kappa.

In 2009, in recognition of the numerous contributions made to Auburn University, the Board of Trustees declared that the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department’s conference room would be named the J. David Irwin Conference Room. In 2010, the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society created the J. David Irwin Early Career Award in recognition of the many contributions made to the development of young professionals. The award is given annually to outstanding IEEE members throughout the world.

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