| Dr. Pramod Khargonekar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Indore, India |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Florida Indian Institutes of Technology |
| Known for |
Being the Dean of the UF College of Engineering, his contributions to the robust control theory |
Pramod Khargonekar was born in Indore, India. He is a well-known expert in control systems.
Khargonekar earned his bachelor's degree at the Indian Institutes of Technology, Bombay. In the late 1970s, he moved to Gainesville, Florida and studied under the guidance of Rudolf Kalman—a world authority in systems theory and a professor in the University of Florida Department of Electrical Engineering. In 1980, Khargonekar received a master's degree in mathematics and in 1981 a doctorate in electrical engineering. He soon joined the University of Florida faculty as an assistant professor of electrical engineering.[1]
In 1984, Khargonekar moved to the University of Minnesota. Five years later, he joined the University of Michigan faculty, where he eventually became the Claude E. Shannon Professor and Chairman of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department.
Khargonekar returned to his alma mater in 2001 to become dean of the College of Engineering. Under his leadership, the University of Florida's College of Engineering has grown tremendously. There were 187 Ph.D.s awarded last year — almost 100 percent increase during his tenure as Dean. The College’s annual research expenditures have never been higher. Growing more than 60% percent in the same time period, research spending in 2008-09 was almost $110 million. Also since 2001, 23 faculty members have won NSF CAREER Awards, highly competitive grants given to the nation’s most promising young researchers. Forty faculty members have been named fellows of professional organizations. The College’s USNWR rankings soared. The graduate program ranks 25th among public and private universities and 15th among public universities, in 2001 it was ranked 35th and 20th, respectively. He returned to his teaching and research activities as Eckis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in July 2009.
Among the most notable of Khargonekar’s accomplishments is the creation of and subsequent endowment for the College’s newest department, biomedical engineering. Establishing this department was one of Khargonekar’s first priorities upon becoming dean. In 2006, it was renamed the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering in honor of a $10 million gift from the Pruitt family. With matching funds from the state of Florida, the endowment now exceeds $20 million.
A special issue of the Florida Engineer celebrating his leadership as Dean of Engineering can be found at [2]
Khargonekar’s research interests focus on control theory and its applications. He has received numerous honors and awards, including an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, the IEEE W.R.G. Baker Prize Paper Award (1991), the George Axelby Best Paper Award, the Hugo Schuck ACC Best Paper Award, the Japan Society for Promotion of Science Fellowship, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He is a Fellow of IEEE. He is among ISI Highly Cited Researchers. At the University of Michigan, he received a teaching excellence award from the EECS department, a research excellence award from the College of Engineering, and the Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship. At the University of Minnesota, he received the George Taylor Distinguished Research Award from the Institute of Technology.