MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

Professor Alan Willsky Awarded Edwin Sibley Webster Chair

June 21, 2000

Professor Alan Willsky has been appointed as the Edwin Sibley Webster Professorship of Electrical Engineering. The Chair was established to honor Edwin Webster (class of 1888!), one of the first graduates in the area of electrical engineering at MIT.

Alan is a leading national and international figure in the broad field of estimation, signal and image processing. His early book "Digital Signal Processing and Control and Estimation Theory - Points of Tangency, Free of Intersection and Parallel Directions" was influential in drawing the attention of researchers in signal processing and systems and control to the commonalities in the two fields. Alan's research brings to bear the insights of systems and control theory to challenging problems of signal processing arising in such diverse domains as oceanography, seismology, image analysis and computational vision. In each of these domains, Alan has made significant progress in understanding how to extract useful structural information from large noisy data sets. Among other research accomplishments, Alan pioneered the development of multi-scale, multi-resolution methods for attacking these problems.

Alan is also well known for his educational activities. The book "Signals and Systems," which he co-authored with Al Oppenheim, had a large impact on the way this material is taught throughout academia. Within MIT he has taught a variety of subjects, including 6.003. His attention to detail combines with his engaging speaking style to make him one of our best teachers. In addition to his contributions in the classroom, Alan has supervised over forty doctoral students.

On top of his research and teaching, Alan has found the time to help with many of the more mundane activities that go into making EECS a successful department. Currently he serves on both the Department's Personnel Committee and the Client Committee for the Stata Center. Of particular importance is the role he has played in bringing the EE and CS sides of the Department closer together.

The Department extends its warmest congratulations to Alan on this well deserved honor.