Fawwaz Ulaby: Bridging Continents and Cosmos Through Science

Professor Fawwaz Ulaby, Class of 1961, is the Emmett Leith Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. A pioneering researcher in the field of radar remote sensing, his work focuses on using radar technology to map terrestrial geophysical features from satellite platforms.

From 1999 to 2005, Professor Ulaby served as the University of Michigan’s Vice President for Research. In 2006 and 2007, he chaired the Radar Review Team for NASA’s Phoenix spacecraft mission, which successfully landed on Mars in May 2008.

Professor Ulaby is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the IEEE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and has contributed his expertise to numerous national scientific boards and commissions, including the Committee on Human Rights of the National Academies (2006–2012).

Since joining the University of Michigan in 1984, Professor Ulaby has led several large-scale, interdisciplinary NASA research initiatives and served as the founding Director of the NASA Center for Space Terahertz Technology. His prolific academic output includes 16 books and approximately 700 scientific publications. He has supervised 115 graduate students, and many of his widely used textbooks have been translated into multiple languages, including Korean and Chinese.

His numerous accolades include the NASA Achievement Award (1990), the IEEE Millennium Medal (2000), the William T. Pecora Award (2002), the EECS Professor of the Year Award from EKN (2006), the prestigious Thomas Edison Medal (2006), and the IEEE Education Medal (2012).

Professor Fawwaz Ulaby’61
Emmett Leith Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan