Paying Tribute to 1997 IEEE President Charles Okay. Alexander

Charles Okay. Alexander, 1997 IEEE president, died on 17 October on the age of 79.

The energetic volunteer held many high-level positions all through the group, together with 1991–1992 IEEE Region 2 director. He was additionally the 1993 vp of the IEEE United States Activities Board (now IEEE-USA).

The IEEE Life Fellow labored in academia his complete profession. At the time of his loss of life, he was a professor {of electrical} and laptop engineering at Cleveland State University and served as dean of its engineering faculty.

He was a former professor and dean at a number of colleges together with Temple University, California State University, Northridge, and Ohio University. He additionally was a marketing consultant to firms and authorities companies, and he was concerned in analysis and growth tasks in photo voltaic vitality and software program engineering.

Alexander was devoted to creating IEEE extra significant and useful to engineering college students. He helped discovered the IEEE Student Professional Awareness program, which gives talks and networking occasions. Alexander additionally helped discovered IEEE’s pupil publication IEEE Potentials.

He mentored many college students.

“My life has been so positively impacted with the significant opportunity to know such a giant in the engineering world,” says Jim Watson, an IEEE senior life member and one among Alexander’s mentees. “While many are very successful engineers and instructors, Dr. Alexander rises far above those who contributed to the success of others.”

Helping engineering college students succeed

Alexander was born in Amherst, Ohio, the place he turned interested by mechanical engineering at a younger age. He fastened the automobiles and machines used on his household’s farm, in accordance with a 2009 oral historical past performed by the IEEE History Center.

He switched his pursuits after which earned a bachelor’s diploma in electrical engineering in 1965 from Ohio Normal (now Ohio Northern University), in Ada. As a freshman, he joined the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, one among IEEE’s predecessor societies. While he was an undergraduate, he served as secretary of the varsity’s AIEE pupil department.

Alexander went on to obtain grasp’s and doctoral levels in electrical engineering from Ohio University in Athens, in 1967 and 1971 respectively. As a graduate pupil, he suggested the college’s Eta Kappa Nu chapter, the engineering honor society that’s now IEEE’s honor society. He considerably elevated assembly attendance, he stated within the oral historical past. Thanks to his efforts, he stated, the chapter was ranked one of many high 4 within the nation on the time.

After graduating, he joined Ohio University in 1971 as an assistant professor {of electrical} engineering. During this time, he additionally labored as a marketing consultant for the U.S. Air Force and Navy, designing manufacturing processes for his or her varied new techniques. Alexander additionally designed a testing system for solid-state filters, which have been utilized in atomic warheads for missiles on plane carriers.

He left a 12 months later to hitch Youngstown State University, in Ohio, as an affiliate professor {of electrical} engineering. He was college advisor for the college’s IEEE pupil department and helped enhance its membership from 20 college students to greater than 200, in accordance with the oral historical past. In 1980 he moved to Tennessee and have become a professor {of electrical} engineering at Tennessee Tech University, in Cookeville. He additionally helped the varsity’s IEEE pupil department enhance its membership.

In 1986 he joined Temple University in Philadelphia as a professor and chair of {the electrical} engineering division. At the time, the college didn’t have an accredited engineering program, he stated within the oral historical past.

“They brought me on board to help get the undergraduate programs in all three disciplines accredited,” he stated. He additionally created grasp’s diploma and Ph.D. applications for electrical engineering. He served as performing dean of the college’s faculty of engineering from 1989 to 1994.

After the engineering applications turned accredited, Alexander stated within the oral historical past that his job was completed there so he left Temple in 1994 to hitch California State University, Northridge. He was dean of engineering and laptop science there.

Alexander returned to Ohio University as a visiting professor {of electrical} engineering and laptop science. From 1998 to 2002, he was interim director of the varsity’s Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology. The institute’s researchers predict and resolve corrosion in oil and gasoline manufacturing and transportation infrastructure.

But after a couple of years, Alexander stated, he missed creating and rising engineering applications at universities, so when a possibility opened up at Cleveland State University in 2007, he took it. As dean of the college’s engineering faculty, he added 12 college positions.

Supporting pupil members’ skilled growth

Throughout his profession, Alexander was an energetic IEEE volunteer. He served as chair of the IEEE Student Activities Committee, the place he helped launch applications and companies which might be nonetheless being provided right this moment. They embrace the IEEE Student Professional Awareness Program and the WriteTalk program (now ProSkills), which helps college students develop their communication abilities.

He was editor of the IEEE Transactions on Education. Along with IEEE Senior Member Jon R. McDearman, he helped launch IEEE Potentials.

“Potentials was designed to be something of value for the undergraduates, who don’t want to read technical papers,” Alexander stated within the oral historical past. “We styled it after IEEE Spectrum. Jon and I decided to include articles that would help students on topics like career development and how to be successful.”

Alexander continued to rise via the ranks in IEEE and was elected the 1991–1992 Region 2 director. The following 12 months, he turned vp of the IEEE United States Activities Board (now IEEE-USA) and served in that place for 2 years.

He was elevated to IEEE Fellow in 1994 “for leadership in the field of engineering education and the professional development of engineering students.”

He was elected because the 1997 IEEE president.

“It was an incredible honor,” he stated within the oral historical past. “One of the very special things that has happened to me.”

He obtained the 1984 IEEE Centennial Medal in addition to a number of awards for his work in training, together with a 1998 Distinguished Engineering Education Achievement Award and a 1996 Distinguished Engineering Education Leadership Award, each from the Engineering Council, the United Kingdom’s regulatory physique for the career.

“Dr. Alexander always emphasized the value of developing professional and ethical skills to enhance engineering career success,” Watson says. “He encouraged others to apply Winston Churchill’s famous quote ‘We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.’”

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