Charles Ok. Alexander, 1997 IEEE president, died on 17 October on the age of 79.

The energetic volunteer held many high-level positions all through the group, together with 1991–1992 IEEE Area 2 director. He was additionally the 1993 vice chairman of the IEEE United States Actions Board (now IEEE-USA).

The IEEE Life Fellow labored in academia his total profession. On the time of his demise, he was a professor {of electrical} and laptop engineering at Cleveland State College and served as dean of its engineering faculty.

He was a former professor and dean at a number of faculties together with Temple College, California State College, Northridge, and Ohio College. He additionally was a marketing consultant to firms and authorities businesses, and he was concerned in analysis and growth initiatives in photo voltaic power and software program engineering.

Alexander was devoted to creating IEEE extra significant and useful to engineering college students. He helped discovered the IEEE Scholar Skilled Consciousness program, which presents talks and networking occasions. Alexander additionally helped discovered IEEE’s scholar publication IEEE Potentials.

He mentored many college students.

“My life has been so positively impacted with the numerous alternative to know such a large within the engineering world,” says Jim Watson, an IEEE senior life member and certainly one of Alexander’s mentees. “Whereas many are very profitable engineers and instructors, Dr. Alexander rises far above those that contributed to the success of others.”

Serving to engineering college students succeed

Alexander was born in Amherst, Ohio, the place he grew to become all for mechanical engineering at a younger age. He mounted the automobiles and machines used on his household’s farm, based on a 2009 oral historical past performed by the IEEE Historical past Heart.

He switched his pursuits after which earned a bachelor’s diploma in electrical engineering in 1965 from Ohio Regular (now Ohio Northern College), in Ada. As a freshman, he joined the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, certainly one of IEEE’s predecessor societies. Whereas he was an undergraduate, he served as secretary of the college’s AIEE scholar department.

Alexander went on to obtain grasp’s and doctoral levels in electrical engineering from Ohio College in Athens, in 1967 and 1971 respectively. As a graduate scholar, he suggested the college’s Eta Kappa Nu chapter, the engineering honor society that’s now IEEE’s honor society. He considerably elevated assembly attendance, he stated within the oral historical past. Due to his efforts, he stated, the chapter was ranked one of many high 4 within the nation on the time.

After graduating, he joined Ohio College in 1971 as an assistant professor {of electrical} engineering. Throughout this time, he additionally labored as a marketing consultant for the U.S. Air Power and Navy, designing manufacturing processes for his or her varied new programs. Alexander additionally designed a testing system for solid-state filters, which had been utilized in atomic warheads for missiles on plane carriers.

He left a 12 months later to affix Youngstown State College, in Ohio, as an affiliate professor {of electrical} engineering. He was college advisor for the college’s IEEE scholar department and helped improve its membership from 20 college students to greater than 200, based on the oral historical past. In 1980 he moved to Tennessee and have become a professor {of electrical} engineering at Tennessee Tech College, in Cookeville. He additionally helped the college’s IEEE scholar department enhance its membership.

In 1986 he joined Temple College in Philadelphia as a professor and chair of {the electrical} engineering division. On the time, the college didn’t have an accredited engineering program, he stated within the oral historical past.

“They introduced me on board to assist get the undergraduate applications in all three disciplines accredited,” he stated. He additionally created grasp’s diploma and Ph.D. applications for electrical engineering. He served as appearing dean of the college’s faculty of engineering from 1989 to 1994.

After the engineering applications grew to become accredited, Alexander stated within the oral historical past that his job was completed there so he left Temple in 1994 to affix California State College, Northridge. He was dean of engineering and laptop science there.

Alexander returned to Ohio College as a visiting professor {of electrical} engineering and laptop science. From 1998 to 2002, he was interim director of the college’s Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Expertise. The institute’s researchers predict and resolve corrosion in oil and fuel manufacturing and transportation infrastructure.

However after a number of years, Alexander stated, he missed creating and rising engineering applications at universities, so when a chance opened up at Cleveland State College in 2007, he took it. As dean of the college’s engineering faculty, he added 12 college positions.

Supporting scholar members’ skilled growth

All through his profession, Alexander was an energetic IEEE volunteer. He served as chair of the IEEE Scholar Actions Committee, the place he helped launch applications and providers which might be nonetheless being supplied right this moment. They embody the IEEE Scholar Skilled Consciousness Program and the WriteTalk program (now ProSkills), which helps college students develop their communication expertise.

He was editor of the IEEE Transactions on Training. Together with IEEE Senior Member Jon R. McDearman, he helped launch IEEE Potentials.

“Potentials was designed to be one thing of worth for the undergraduates, who don’t wish to learn technical papers,” Alexander stated within the oral historical past. “We styled it after IEEE Spectrum. Jon and I made a decision to incorporate articles that will assist college students on subjects like profession growth and the way to achieve success.”

Alexander continued to rise by the ranks in IEEE and was elected the 1991–1992 Area 2 director. The next 12 months, he grew to become vice chairman of the IEEE United States Actions Board (now IEEE-USA) and served in that place for 2 years.

He was elevated to IEEE Fellow in 1994 “for management within the subject of engineering schooling and the skilled growth of engineering college students.”

He was elected because the 1997 IEEE president.

“It was an unbelievable honor,” he stated within the oral historical past. “One of many very particular issues that has occurred to me.”

He obtained the 1984 IEEE Centennial Medal in addition to a number of awards for his work in schooling, together with a 1998 Distinguished Engineering Training Achievement Award and a 1996 Distinguished Engineering Training Management Award, each from the Engineering Council, the UK’s regulatory physique for the occupation.

“Dr. Alexander at all times emphasised the worth of creating skilled and moral expertise to boost engineering profession success,” Watson says. “He inspired others to use Winston Churchill’s well-known quote ‘We make a residing by what we get however we make a life by what we give.’”

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