News Story

Chellappa Named Interim Chair of ECE Department

Dr. Rama Chellappa

Minta Martin Professor of Engineering Rama Chellappa has been named interim Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Dr. Chellappa, who has an affiliate appointment in both the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) and the Department of Computer Science, will be appointed to the position effective July 1, 2011, when current Chair and Professor Patrick O’Shea steps down to assume responsibility in his new role as Vice President for Research at the University of Maryland.

"Dr. Chellappa will bring to his new position the leadership skills that have made him so effective as Director of the Center for Automation Research, the first President of the IEEE Biometrics Council and the Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious IEEE Transactions of Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence," said the Dean of the Clark School of Engineering, Dr. Darryll Pines. "We are fortunate to find such an able researcher and educator to ensure the department’s continued progress during this transition."

A faculty member at the University of Maryland since 1991, Dr. Chellappa received his B.E. (Hons.) in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the University of Madras; his M.S. in Electrical Communication Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore; and his M.S.E.E and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications, served as an associate editor for four IEEE Transactions, is a fellow of IEEE, IAPR and OSA, and has received numerous awards, including an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, four IBM Faculty Development Awards, the 1990 Excellence in Teaching Award from School of Engineering at USC, the Society, Technical Achievement and Meritorious Service Awards from the IEEE Signal Processing Society and the Technical Achievement and Meritorious Service Awards from the IEEE Computer Society.

At the University of Maryland he has been elected as a Distinguished Faculty Research Fellow and Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and received numerous awards for research, innovation, mentorship and teaching, including the Outstanding Invention Award from the Office of Technology Commercialization, the Faculty Outstanding Research Award from the College of Engineering and an Outstanding GEMSTONE Mentor Award. Purdue University recently recognized him with its Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Alumni Award.

For more information about Prof. Chellappa, visit http://www.cfar.umd.edu./~rama/.

May 27, 2011