Palacios named the Clarence J. LeBel Professor

By Jane Halpern

June 15, 2023 | Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

From left to right: Dean of the School of Engineering Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing Dan Huttenlocher; Director of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (and newly named Clarence J. LeBel Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, effective July 1st) Tomás Palacios; faculty head of Electrical Engineering Joel Voldman; and Department Head of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), Mathworks Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Deputy Dean of Academics, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing Asu Ozdaglar.

Tomás Palacios has been named the Clarence J. LeBel Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, effective July 1, 2023. This chair appointment recognizes his groundbreaking research, excellent teaching and mentoring, and exceptional contributions to the department and to MIT. 

Tomás Palacios is Director of the Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL) and Professor of Electrical Engineering within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at MIT.  Additionally, he is Associate Director of the SUPeRior Energy-efficient Materials and dEvices (SUPREME) Center, a new research center which will bring together researchers from nine different higher education institutions with a focus on developing energy-efficient semiconductor materials and technologies. Among many other contributions, he has previously served as Director of the 6-A MEng Thesis Program and as Industry Officer for the Department.

Palacios received his PhD from the University of California – Santa Barbara, and his undergraduate degree in Telecommunication Engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Spain); he joined MIT in 2006. He is the founding director of the MTL Center for Graphene Devices and 2D Systems, as well as the co-founder of Finwave Semiconductor, Inc., an MTL spin-off company commercializing Gallium Nitride power amplifiers for 5G communications. A world expert in Gallium Nitride electronics for both radio frequency and power applications, Palacios and his group have also made seminal contributions to two-dimensional materials and devices, and their heterogeneous integration with state-of-the-art silicon electronics.

Palacios is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and has served the microelectronics community in many roles, more recently as the General Chair for the IEEE Symposium on Very Large-Scale Integration (VLSI) Technology and Circuits. His work has been recognized with multiple awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the 2012 and 2019 IEEE George Smith Award, and the National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Naval Research (ONR), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Awards, among many others. 

The LeBel chair was created in 1967-1968 by a bequest from the late Mr. LeBel, who received SB and SM degrees from MIT in 1927, was a founder of the Audio Engineering Society, and served as its President in 1958. The chair was held by Professors Kenneth Stevens and Charles Sodini in the past, and is currently held also by Professors Joel Voldman, Duane Boning, and John Tsitsiklis.