Notable

Robert Thomas, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been elected to the Hall of Fame of Wayne State University College of Engineering in Detroit, Mich. Thomas, who earned his bachelor's (1968), master's (1969) and Ph.D. (1973) degrees from Wayne State, was the first electrical engineer to earn a Ph.D. from Wayne State. He joined Cornell in 1973. In addition to teaching and research, Thomas has served on assignment with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electric Energy Systems in Washington, D.C. (1979-80), and with 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) in 1987-88. He is the founding director of the 11-university-member National Science Foundation Power Systems Engineering Research Center, which is focused on problems of restructuring of the electric power industry.