Robert Thomas - Hall of Fame 2004

Robert Thomas received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Wayne State in 1968, a master's degree in 1969, and a PhD in 1973. He was the first electrical engineer to be awarded a doctoral degree by Wayne State.

Robert joined Cornell University in 1973 where he is currently professor of electrical and computer engineering. During the 1979-1980 academic year, he was on assignment with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electric Energy Systems (EES) in Washington, D.C. In 1987 and 1988 he was on assignment to the National Science Foundation as the first program director for the Power Systems Program in the Engineering Directorate's Division of Electrical Systems Engineering (ESE).

Robert is the author of more than 100 technical papers, and two book chapters. He has been a member of the IEEE United States Activity Board's Energy Policy Committee since 1991, and was the committee's chair from 1997 to 1998. He has served as the IEEE-USA vice president for Technology Policy Council, and has been a member of several university, government and industry advisory boards or panels, including in 2002 on the National Academy Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism Panel on Systems Analysis and Systems Engineering.

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