Professor P. R. Kumar of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University has been named a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. Fellowship is ACM’s most prestigious member grade, recognizing the top 1% of ACM members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology and/or outstanding service to ACM and the larger computing community.
Kumar, holder of the College of Engineering Chair in Computer Engineering Chair in Computer Engineering, was among 50 ACM members named Fellow from the world’s leading universities, corporations and research labs. ACM Members were named Fellows “for achieving advances in computing research and development that are accelerating the digital revolution and impacting every dimension of how we live, work, and play…worldwide.”
Kumar was specifically cited for contributions to wireless communication and control technologies.
ACM President Vinton G. Cerf celebrated the impact of innovations achieved by this year’s ACM Fellows. “We recognize these scientists and engineers, creators and builders, theorists and practitioners who are making a difference in our lives,” he said in a press release. “They’re enabling us to listen, learn, calculate and communicate in ways that underscore the benefits of the digital age. Their advances have led to opportunities for improved healthcare, enhanced security, expanded interactions and enriched lifestyles.”
ACM will formally recognize the 2013 Fellows at its annual Awards Banquet on June 21, 2014, in San Francisco. Additional information about the ACM 2013 Fellows, as well as previous ACM Fellows and award winners is available on the ACM Awards site.
Kumar has made groundbreaking contributions and distinguished himself in both research and education in the field of systems, including control, communications and computing. Kumar has a Bachelor of Technology degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, and master’s and doctoral degrees in systems science and mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis. He received the Donald P. Eckman Award of the American Automatic Control Council, the Fred W. Ellersick Prize of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Communications Society, the IEEE Field Award for Control Systems, and the ACM SIGMOBILE Outstanding Contribution Award. He was a guest chair professor and leader of the Guest Chair Professor Group on Wireless Communication and Networking at Tsinghua University, Beijing, is an honorary professor at IIT Hyderabad, and a D.J. Gandhi Distinguished Visiting Professor of IIT Bombay. Kumar is also a Fellow of IEEE, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, USA, and an Associate Fellow of the Academy of Sciences of the Developing World. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Madras, the Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University in St. Louis, and the Daniel C. Drucker Eminent Faculty Award from the College of Engineering, University of Illinois. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by ETH, Zurich.
