Richard Jaeger To Receive the IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award

Richard Jaeger of Auburn University will be presented the IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award 2004 for inspirational teaching at the ISSCC in San Francisco in February. The award consists of a bronze medal, a certificate, and a cash honorarium.
“Dr. Jaeger has excelled in every aspect of his career and has a deeply felt appreciation of the importance of undergraduate instruction,” said David Irwin, head of the Auburn University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “It comes as no surprise to me that he was selected for this honor.”
Bogdan M. Wilamowski (University of Idaho), who has known Jaeger for 20 years and has coauthored three papers and one textbook with him, lists Jaeger’s multiple accomplishments:
“He wrote the prime textbook, Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication, and developed a leading undergraduate program in silicon chip fabrication at Auburn University.
His textbook, Microelectronic Circuit Design, has had a significant impact on all EE undergraduate students in the U.S. Where students are not using his textbook, it is likely that their textbook was already modified to a standard set by Dr. Jaeger’s text.
Recently he created the nation’s first undergraduate program in wireless technology at Auburn University.
He is a superb teacher, and students love to take his classes.”
Leo Grigsby, Chair of the Executive Committee of the Department Electrical and Computer Engineering at Auburn University for fifteen years, saw all of the student evaluations of their professors’ teaching. “Professor Jaeger has a rare talent for classroom teaching. He is highly respected by students for his ability to communicate difficult material and for his innovative methods of presenting this material.” Grigsby recalled, “Students speak often of his dedication, his ability to challenge and inspire them, and his ability to integrate theory with practical applications.” Grigsby continued, “Jaeger brings a rare insight into the classroom because of his 10 years of industrial and research experience. When nominated for the prestigious Auburn University College of Engineering Birdsong Teaching Award, Jaeger was selected on his first nomination in 1991.”
Thomas J. Harrison, Florida State University (retired), has known Jaeger since 1969 when he hired him into his group at IBM. Jaeger worked on precision analog design, microprocessor architecture, and low-temperature devices and circuits. “He told me at the time that it was his intent to work in industry for ten years and then return to the university to teach. He did exactly that! I have since followed his distinguished academic career with great interest and pleasure. The award is richly deserved and I am very pleased that he was selected for the honor.”
In the late 1980s Jaeger created an outstanding teaching environment, where undergraduate students at Auburn University could design and fabricate their own silicon chips by participating in every step of the fabrication process, a unique opportunity often only accorded to graduate students. With his program he attracted students to microelectronics professions and prepared them for effective careers in high-tech industry. From 1984 to 2001 he served as the first director of the Center. Closely aligned with this effort was his publication of the popular textbook Introduction to Microelectronic Fabrication. It is widely accepted as the main source for teaching students fundamentals of chip fabrication and forms the basis for courses at a number of universities.
Harrison regards Jaeger’s later textbook, Microelectronic Circuit Design, as “an outstanding comprehensive text that can be used in several different undergraduate electronics courses covering device design, digital circuit design, and analog circuit design. It is characterized by extensive discussion of all aspects of microelectronic design, large student problem sets, and the use of various computer-aided design techniques (MATLAB and SPICE).” It won the 1988 IEEE Education Society Jacob Millman/ McGraw-Hill Award for outstanding textbook development. The second edition came out this summer.
Bogdan M. Wilamowski uses this textbook in several electronics and VLSI courses that he teaches, judging it “the best electronics textbook I have seen.” Wilamowski observes that most new textbooks are usually a slight modification of those already written. “Any deviation from this tradition carries a danger that a new book will not be easily adopted, primarily because teaching faculties are reluctant to change their habits. As a result, outdated materials are often imposed on students. Dr. Jaeger had the courage to write a very different kind of textbook by introducing many new concepts.” Wilamowski credits Jaeger’s broad background as the Editor of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits and the President of the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Council. This gave him a very good perception of current trends in microelectronics. “Jaeger introduced new materials, like switching power supplies instead just of diode rectifiers. He emphasized CMOS transistor design instead of bipolar transistors and he focused on digital circuit design without neglecting analog circuitry. Because of his textbook, other authors of electronics textbooks were forced to change the contents of their textbooks too. Since electronic courses are core courses for all electrical undergraduates, his textbook had a significant impact on the education of electrical engineers in the U.S. and around the world.” On Jaeger’s new undergraduate program in wireless communication at Auburn, Wilamowski comments, “Again he had the vision and the ability to pioneer a new text for engineering undergraduate and graduate education in this area.”
Jaeger received his BS, ME, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Florida. He holds three patents and received two Invention Achievement Awards from IBM. In addition to his textbooks, Jaeger also coauthored Computerized Circuit Design Using SPICE Programs, and has published more than 200 technical papers. Jaeger will begin serving a two-year term as Vice President of the SSCS in January 2004.