John G. Proakis
- Associated organizations
- Northeastern University
- Fields of study
- Signal processing
- Awards
- IEEE Signal Processing Society Education Award, IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal
Biography
Known as a digital communications expert, inspiring educator, and prolific writer, John G. Proakis has helped shape electrical engineering and digital communications programs and composed textbooks that have influenced graduate students worldwide. Dr. Proakis developed an outstanding reputation of providing inspired teaching and supervision of students with an academic career that began in 1969 with the Electrical Engineering Department at Northeastern University, MA, USA. As the chair of Northeastern’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Proakis helped transform the department from a teaching environment to a dynamic research-active department. Dr. Proakis also served as associate dean and director of Northeastern’s Graduate School of Engineering. Of his ten textbooks on digital communication and signal processing, Digital Communications (McGraw Hill) is perhaps the best known. Considered the most influential resource on the topic and now in its fifth edition, the textbook has educated generations of students and engineers about the fundamentals associated with the digital information age. His other influential textbooks include Introduction to Digital Signal Processing (Prentice Hall), Communication Systems Engineering (Prentice Hall), and Fundamentals of Communication Systems (Prentice Hall). Dr. Proakis has also expanded engineering education beyond theory to laboratory experiments and simulation techniques using computers and software. His textbooks in this area include Digital Signal Processing Using MATLAB (CL-Engineering) and Contemporary Communication Systems Using MATLAB and Simulink (Cengage Learning). Through these approachable books, Dr. Proakis has helped expose students early on to the MATLAB development and simulation tool that they will likely need to use throughout their professional careers. Dr. Proakis also served as editor of the five-volume Wiley Encyclopedia of Telecommunications.
An IEEE Life Fellow and recipient of the IEEE Signal Processing Society Education Award (2004), Dr. Proakis is a Professor Emeritus with Northeastern University and an Adjunct Professor at the University of California in San Diego, CA, USA.
