George Mason University engineering professor Harry Van Trees has received one of engineering's highest honors––being elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
His influential work in "detection, estimation, and modulation theory and leadership in defense communications systems" prompted the honor, according to the independent, nonprofit academy.
Van Trees also won the IEEE Kilby Gold Medal for Signal Processing, named after the Nobel Prize winner who invented the transistor.
"Being elected to the National Academy of Engineering and receiving the 2015 IEEE Kilby Gold Medal represent the culmination of my professional career," Van Trees said. "Both citations refer to my contributions to detection, estimation, and modulation theory, which were based on my books first published in 1968. The first volume had 30 printings and was used to educate several generations of engineers.
"The NAE citation also refers to leadership in defense communications systems. This based on work as Acting ASD (C3I) and industry. The Kilby citation also refers to my later work in array processing and Bayesian estimation. I am honored to be recognized by the leaders in my profession for my lifetime of work."
Van Trees joined George Mason in 1987 as a Distinguished Professor of Information Technology, and Electrical and Systems Engineering. He was the founding director of Mason's Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence (C3I).
His enviable career includes leading the government division of a high-tech defense electronics company, M/A-Com Government Systems, which developed and produced modems, decoders and satellite terminals for military satellite systems.
Van Trees has served in multiple capacities for the government, including chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force and chief scientist of the Defense Communications Agency. He also served as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense (C3I) and as acting assistant secretary of defense; command, control, communications and intelligence (C3I). It was in this capacity that he was responsible for the research, development and acquisition of C3I systems for the Department of Defense.
Van Trees earned his BS from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, and graduated number one in his class of 525 students. He went on to earn a ScDEE from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He spent 11 years at MIT as a Professor of Electrical Engineering.
National Academy of Engineering membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."
A version of this story by Michele McDonald appeared on the Mason News Desk on Feb. 12, 2015.