Board of Directors

The IEEE Foundation is fortunate to be led by a group of smart, dedicated and compassionate IEEE members who work diligently to translate the values of our donors into social impact.

Board of Directors

The IEEE Foundation is fortunate to be led by a group of smart, dedicated and compassionate IEEE members who work diligently to translate the values of our donors into social impact.

Officers

Marko Delimar

President

Biography

Marko Delimar is an electrical engineer, educator and researcher. He is a Full Professor at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, where he’s been with the Department of Energy and Power Systems since 1997. He served as a Vice Dean of Education at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing and Head-of-Studies at the University of Zagreb Study Programme of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources. His interests include electric power and energy systems, simulations and modelling, intelligent systems, and engineering education. His current research focuses on analysis and design of smart grid architectures and large-scale integration of renewable energy sources.

An IEEE volunteer since 1994, Delimar served in a variety of roles and is perhaps best known as a co-creator of IEEEXtreme and IEEE European Public Policy Committee. He served on the IEEE Board of Directors as IEEE Secretary and Region 8 Director.

Ralph Ford

Past President

Biography

Ralph Ford is chancellor of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College and has more than 25 years of leadership experience in higher education and industry. He joined Penn State Behrend in 1994 as a faculty member in electrical and computer engineering, subsequently serving as department chair. In 2005, Dr. Ford was named director of the college’s School of Engineering. Under his leadership, the school increased its national visibility as reflected in its rankings as one of the top 50 undergraduate engineering programs in the country by U.S. News & World Report. He is the author of more than 40 publications, including the book, Design for Electrical and Computer Engineers (McGraw Hill). In 2005, he was a Fulbright Scholar to Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic.

He is a past vice president of Member and Geographic Activities, Region 2 Director, and past member of the board of directors of the IEEE. Prior to joining Penn State University, he held engineering positions at IBM Microelectronics and Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Jerry L. Hudgins

Vice President, Programs

Biography

Jerry Hudgins is a native of West Texas. He attended Texas Tech University, in Lubbock, Texas, where he received a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in 1985. Dr. Hudgins served as Associate and Interim Department Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of South Carolina prior to joining the University of Nebraska in 2004 as Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Currently, he is the Interim Director of the Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research. Dr. Hudgins has worked with numerous industries and published over 150 technical papers, books, and book chapters concerning power semiconductors, power electronics, renewable energy systems, and engineering education. In 2000, he was named as an IEEE Third Millennium Medal recipient for "Outstanding Contributions in the area of Power Electronics." Dr. Hudgins is a Fellow of the IEEE and a past member of the IEEE Board of Directors (Division II Director and IEEE Treasurer). Dr. Hudgins also served as the President of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) for the years of 1997 and 1998, and as President of the IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) in 2003.

Sarah A. Rajala

Secretary

Biography

Sarah Rajala served as the 12th dean of the College of Engineering at Iowa State University from 2013 - 2019. Her previous leadership positions were at Mississippi State University as dean of engineering from 2008-13, and chair of the electrical and computer engineering department prior to being named dean. She also served at North Carolina State University as associate dean for research and graduate programs and associate dean for academic affairs in the college of engineering. She had a distinguished career as a professor and center director prior to moving into administrative positions.

Rajala is an internationally known leader who has served on many academic and association boards. She is the president-elect of ABET and a past president of the American Society for Engineering Education and past chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council. In 2016 she was awarded national engineer of the year award by the American Association of Engineering Societies; and received the 2015 national Harriett B. Rigas Award from IEEE. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the AAAS, ABET, ASEE and IEEE. She has consistently broken new ground for women in engineering and is passionate about diversity of thought and culture. Rajala earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Michigan Technological University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Rice University.

John D. McDonald

Vice President, Development

Biography

John D. McDonald, P.E., is Founder & CEO of JDM Associates, LLC. John has 50 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution industry. John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (Power Engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley.

John is a Life Fellow of IEEE (member for 53 years), member of IEEE-HKN (inducted 53 years ago) and Tau Beta Pi (inducted 51 years ago), member of the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity, and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award, the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award, the IEEE PES Meritorious Service Award, the 2024 CIGRE US National Committee (USNC) Philip Sporn Award, the 2016 CIGRE Distinguished Member Award, the 2016 CIGRE USNC Attwood Associate Award, the 2021 CIGRE Honorary Member Award, the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity Career Achievement Award.

John is Past President of the IEEE PES, the VP for Technical Activities for the USNC of CIGRE, the Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee, the IEEE Division VII Past Director, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. John was on the Board of Governors of the IEEE-SA (Standards Association), is an IEEE Foundation Director and Vice President of Development, and is a Founding Board Member of the SECC.

John received the 2009 Purdue University Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award and the 2023 Purdue University Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. John teaches Smart Grid courses at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and Smart Grid courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer (since 1999). John has published one hundred fifty papers and articles, has co-authored five books and has one US patent.

Christopher Geiger

Treasurer

Biography

Christopher Geiger is Director of Internal Audit for Lockheed Martin. In this role he leads internal audit operations for a Fortune 100 aerospace & defense company with a presence in over 50 countries. He has been with Lockheed Martin for 20 years and was most recently the Director of Enterprise Risk and Sustainability where he led related program strategy, implementation, and stakeholder engagement. Christopher is also on the Board of Directors of Midflorida Credit Union, a $6B assets full-service financial institution. He was previously chair of the Florida Professional Engineers in Industry and a local elected official in Florida. He frequently publishes and speaks on topics at the intersection of risk, sustainability, and resilience. Recent papers include “Resilience in Permanent Space Settlement” and “Integrating Space Sustainability into Double Materiality Decision-making and Reporting.”

Christopher is a licensed Professional Engineering (PE) in Florida and Texas, UK Chartered Engineer (CEng), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors. In addition, he is an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), a senior member of IEEE, and a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He received a master's in business administration and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and chemistry from the University of Florida.

Directors at Large

Alex Acero

Biography

Alex Acero is a Senior Director at Apple leading speech recognition, speech synthesis, language understanding, and dialog for Siri, Apple’s personal assistant for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Carplay, Macintosh, and HomePod. Prior to joining Apple in 2013, he spent 20 years at Microsoft Research managing teams in speech, audio, multimedia, computer vision, natural language processing, machine translation, machine learning, and information retrieval. His team at Microsoft Research built Bing Translator, contributed to Xbox Kinect, and pioneered the use of deep learning in large vocabulary speech recognition. From 1991-1993 he managed the speech team for Spain’s Telefonica. His first role with Apple started in 1990. He is Affiliate Faculty at the University of Washington.

Dr. Acero is a Fellow of IEEE and ISCA. He received the 2017 Norbert Wiener Society Award, the 2013 Best Paper Award, and the 2006 Distinguished Lectureship from the IEEE Signal Processing Society. Alex received an engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, a Masters from Rice University, and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon. Alex is author of the textbook “Spoken Language Processing”, over 250 technical papers and 150 US patents. Alex has served in a number of advisory boards, including IDIAP’s International Advisory Council, Stony Brook University’s Industry Advisory Board, and EPSRC Natural Speech Technology Advisory board.

Dr. Acero has held numerous volunteer leadership roles within IEEE including SPS as President and a Division Director on the IEEE Board of Directors.

Nim Cheung

Biography

Dr. Nim Cheung is Chairman and CEO of AIphotonics Limited, a technology company that he founded at the Hong Kong Science Park specialized in 3D photography, LIDAR, and artificial intelligence. He is also director of several listed and start-up companies in Hong Kong. He has recently completed a six-year term as CEO of Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), a 600-member ICT research center established by the Hong Kong Government. From 1999 to 2002, he was Vice President of Applied Research Government Program at Telcordia Technologies, managing a Government-funded research program that grew at double-digit rates annually. Nim Cheung has won numerous large DARPA and NSF contracts, and conceived and created many innovative R&D programs in gigabit and optical networking, 4G/5G wireless networks, Internet of Things and Smart Cities during the past 3 decades.

Dr. Nim Cheung received his B.Sc. degree from University of Hong Kong and Ph.D. degree from California Institute of Technology. He has held different research and management positions at Bell Labs and Bellcore after graduation. He was a pioneer in high speed optical communications, having established 3 world class research programs in ultra-high speed, coherent, and subcarrier multiplexed communications in Bellcore. Nim Cheung was consulting professor at Stanford University and is currently honorary professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is Fellow of IEEE and Telcordia Technologies, and has received numerous awards and honors.

Lorena Garcia

Biography

Lorena Garcia received her B.Sc. in Electronic Engineering from Universidad del Norte, Colombia, in 2006 and her M.Sc. in Electronics Engineering from Universidad de los Andes, Colombia, in 2008. She has vast experience in academic administration, teaching, and research in important institutions in Colombia. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at the School of Engineering and Basic Sciences of Universidad Central, Colombia. Lorena is a senior member of IEEE and has been an active volunteer since 2003. She is passionate about STEM education and is currently member of the IEEE Educational Activities, and past chair of its Preuniversity Education Coordinating Committee. She also leads the Commission on Diversity and Inclusion of the Colombian Association of Engineers.

Philip Krein

Biography

Philip Krein received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering and the A.B. degree in economics and business from Lafayette College, Easton, PA, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. He was an engineer with Tektronix, Beaverton, OR, and then returned to the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign. He was a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the University of Surrey, Guildford, U.K., from 1997 to 1998. From 2003 to 2014, he was a founder and director of SolarBridge Technologies, Inc., Austin, TX as they developed ac photovoltaic panels. From 2016 through 2020, he was Executive Dean of the Zhejiang University/University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign Institute, Haining, China. At present, he is the Illinois director of the joint University of Illinois/Zhejiang University Dynamic Research Enterprise for Multidisciplinary Engineering Sciences (DREMES). He holds the Grainger Endowed Chair Emeritus in Electric Machinery and Electromechanics at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign and is an Adjunct Distinguished Professor at Zhejiang University. Dr. Krein received the IEEE William E. Newell Power Electronics Award in 2003 and the IEEE Transportation Technologies Award in 2021. He holds 42 U.S. patents. He is a past president of the IEEE Power Electronics Society, a past member of the IEEE Board of Directors, and a past chair of the IEEE Transportation Electrification Community. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Illinois and Oregon, a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors, and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

Karen Panetta

Biography

Karen Panetta (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.S. degree in computer engineering from Boston University, Boston, MA, USA, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northeastern University, Boston. She is currently the Dean of graduate engineering education and a Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. She also holds secondary appointments in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering. She is the Director of the Dr. Panetta’s Vision and Sensing System Laboratory. Her research interests include developing efficient algorithms for simulation, modeling, signal, and image processing for biomedical and security applications. She was a recipient of the 2012 IEEE Ethical Practices Award and the Harriet B. Rigas Award for Outstanding Educator. In 2011, she was awarded the Presidential Award for Engineering and Science Education and Mentoring by U.S. President Obama. She is the Vice President of SMC, Membership, and Student Activities. She was the President of the 2019 IEEE-HKN and 2021-2022 IEEE Awards Board Chair. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Women in Engineering Magazine. She was the IEEE-USA Vice-President of communications and public affairs. From 2007 to 2009, she served as the Worldwide Director for the IEEE Women in Engineering, overseeing the world’s largest professional organization supporting women in engineering and science. Karen is the CEO and Co-founder of Tessera Intelligence Inc. and Co-founder of Sea Deep. She is a Fellow of NAI, AAIA, NASA JOVE and AAAS.

Stephen Phillips

Biography

Stephen Phillips earned the BS from Cornell University and the MS and PhD from Stanford University all in electrical engineering. From 1988 to 2002, he served as a faculty member at Case Western Reserve University. In 2002, he joined Arizona State University as professor of electrical engineering and currently leads the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering as its first director. He is the 2020-2022 IEEE Vice President – Educational Activities and serves on the IEEE Board of Directors. He is the 2022 Director of the Engineering Area Delegation of ABET and serves on the ABET Board of Directors. He was previously elected president of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association. He has been a member of the IEEE Board of Directors and Educational Activities Board and the ABET Board of Directors and Board of Delegates. He is a professional engineer registered in Ohio and serves as a program evaluator for ABET. His teaching and research interests include control systems, system identification, microsystems, MEMS as well as the assessment and improvement of novel delivery methods for accredited engineering degree programs.

Saurabh Sinha

Biography

Saurabh Sinha obtained his B.Eng, M.Eng, and Ph.D. degrees in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa (ZA). Prof Sinha is also a graduate of Wharton’s Advanced Management Program, University of Pennsylvania, USA (alum status). As an established researcher rated by the National Research Foundation, ZA, he has authored or co-authored over 140 publications in peer-reviewed journals, books and proceedings of international conferences. Prof Sinha served UP and the University of Johannesburg (UJ), ZA, for over 22 years – initially as an academic (at various tiers), and then as institute director, executive dean and deputy vice-chancellor. Prof Sinha moved to New Zealand in mid-2023, retaining visiting affiliations at both UJ (Business School and Engineering) and Princeton University (Engineering), USA. At the University of Canterbury, NZ, reporting directly to the vice-chancellor and principal, Prof Sinha leads the Faculty of Engineering as Executive Dean. Among his many achievements, Prof Sinha is a Fellow of the IEEE, recipient of a prestigious U.S. Fulbright grant, and has formerly served as IEEE Board of Director and Vice-President. He is registered as a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineering New Zealand | Te Ao Rangahau.

Tomy Sebastian

Biography

Tomy Sebastian received the B.Sc. (Eng.) degree from Regional Engineering College Calicut (presently National Institute of Technology, Calicut), India, the M.S. degree from Indian Institute of Technology Madras, MA.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto, Canada. In the past he worked with the Research and Applied Technology Division of Black and Decker Corporation, Towson, MD, General Motors Saginaw Division, Saginaw, Michigan, Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems and Nexteer Automotive in Saginaw, Michigan. Currently he is the Director of Motor Drive Systems at Halla Mechatronics in Bay City, Michigan, USA. He also taught several courses on Power Electronics, Motor Drives and Advances Motor Design at University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, and The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio at various times.

Dr. Sebastian has done extensive research in the area of permanent magnet motor design and control issues and applications in steering systems. He has published over 70 technical articles and holds 32 US patents.

In 2003 he was elected as a Fellow of IEEE. During 2008-2009, he served as a distinguished Lecturer of IEEE Industry Applications Society. He is the recipient of the 2010 IEEE Industry Applications Society Outstanding Achievement Award and the 2019 IEEE Nikola Tesla award. He was the General Chair for the First IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (IEEE ECCE 2009) held in San Jose, CA. (Sept. 20-24, 2009), and the General Chair for the Power Electronics, Drives and Energy Systems (PEDES2012) conference in Bengaluru, India (Dec 2012). During 2017-2018 he served as the President of IEEE Industry Applications Society. He also served on the IEEE TAB Periodical Committee During 2018-2019 and as the Chair of the IEEE Myron Zucker Faculty-Student award committee.

Sarah Spurgeon

Biography

Professor Sarah Spurgeon is the Head of the Electronic and Electrical Engineering Department within the UCL Faculty of Engineering Sciences in the UK. Sarah received her B.Sc. and D.Phil. degrees from the University of York, York, U.K., in 1985 and 1988, respectively. She has held previous academic positions at the University of Loughborough, the University of Leicester and the University of Kent in the UK. She was appointed as Professor of Engineering at the University of Leicester in 2002 and was Head of their Department of Engineering from 2006-2008. She was Professor of Control Engineering and Head of the School of Engineering and Digital Arts at the University of Kent from 2008-2016.

Sarah’s research interests are in the area of systems modelling and analysis, robust control and estimation in which areas she has published over 300 research papers. She was awarded the Honeywell International Medal for ‘distinguished contribution as a control and measurement technologist to developing the theory of control’ in 2010 and an IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000. She was an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer for the Control Systems Society for the period 2011-2014.

From 2017-2019 Sarah was President of the Engineering Professors Council, the representative body for engineering in higher education in the UK. She has also served as a Board Member for EngineeringUK. This involvement reflects Sarah’s career long commitment to inspiring the next generation of engineers as well as promoting the value of engineering to society.

Sarah is currently Vice-President (Publications) for the International Federation of Automatic Control and has recently completed her term of office as a council member of the European Control Association. She is an elected member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Control Systems Society and is Editor in Chief of IEEE Press. Within the UK, she is a Board Member of Dstl where she chairs the External Review College.

Ex-Officio Members

Ex-officio and corresponding members have the rights and privileges of directors except the right to vote.

Rajendra Asthana

Chair, IEEE Life Members Committee

Sean Bentley

IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu Board of Governors

David Michelson

Chair, IEEE History Committee

Peter Kennedy

Chair, Awards Board

David H. Whyte

President, IEEE Canadian Foundation

Members Emeriti

Emeritus members of the Board are former IEEE Foundation Directors who made extraordinary contributions to the IEEE Foundation through their devotion of time, expertise, special initiatives, and service.

Henry L. Bachman

President Emeritus

Dr. Leah H. Jamieson

President Emerita

John R. Treichler

President Emeritus

Dr. David A. Conner, P.E.

Director Emeritus

David Green

Director Emeritus

Peter A Lewis, P.E.

Director Emeritus

Joseph V. Lillie

Director Emeritus

Frederick C. Mintzer

Director Emeritus

Board News

Engineering as Service

8 December 2025

A Journey From Engineering Student to IEEE Foundation Leader For Professor Saurabh Sinha, IEEE Fellow and Executive Dean of Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, the journey with…

Celebrating World Gratitude Day: A Message from IEEE Foundation President, Marko Delimar

18 September 2025

On this World Gratitude Day, we pause to reflect on the incredible generosity, collaboration, and impact that define the IEEE community. Gratitude is not only at the heart of today’s…

The Power of Friendship: Celebrating Connections within IEEE

25 July 2025

IEEE is renowned for nurturing technological innovation and bringing together professionals and researchers who collaborate and share their knowledge. With more than 2000 IEEE-sponsored conferences each year, there are countless…

IEEE Foundation Establishes Memorial Fund to Honor Late Board Member Mary Ellen Martin Zellerbach

21 July 2025

It is with deep sadness that the IEEE Foundation acknowledges the passing of Mary Ellen Martin Zellerbach, a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, business leader, mentor, and dedicated IEEE volunteer. Her…

IEEE Foundation Directors Witness STEM Excitement at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, IL, USA

8 July 2025

By Lorena Garcia, IEEE Foundation Director I recently had the pleasure, along with three other IEEE Foundation Directors and Foundation staff, of visiting the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago,…

Igniting the Future: A Message from Marko Delimar, IEEE Foundation President

15 January 2025

As an electrical engineer, researcher, educator, and lifelong optimist, I have always believed in the power of education and innovation to transform lives. Since 1997, I’ve had the privilege of…

Celebrating New Leadership at the IEEE Foundation: Welcoming Philip Krein and Saurabh Sinha to the Board of Directors

9 January 2025

The IEEE Foundation is proud to announce the addition of two accomplished leaders to its Board of Directors: Philip Krein and Saurabh Sinha. Their unique perspectives and expertise will be…

President Ford Concludes His Term and Establishes a Clear Vision for the IEEE Foundation’s Future

12 December 2024

When Ralph Ford stepped into his role as IEEE Foundation President in 2022, his vision for our future was to focus on our supporters’ passions and help grow the Foundation’s…

John McDonald With Max Petlick Atlanta May 2023

Direct Philanthropy and Scholarships: A Virtuous Cycle

12 September 2024

By John D. McDonaldIEEE Foundation Vice President for Development, IEEE Life Fellow,Member National Academy of Engineering, CIGRE Honorary Member,Founder/CEO, JDM Associates, LLC, Duluth, GA, USA As an IEEE Foundation Director…

2024 Life Members Conference Featured Image

IEEE’s Philanthropic Programs Featured as the Heart of the Inaugural Life Members Conference

8 May 2024

From 14 to 16 April 2024, 179 attendees gathered in the Lone Star State, more specifically, Austin, Texas, USA, for the inaugural IEEE Life Members Conference. The conference focused on…

Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Officers

Marko Delimar

Ralph Ford

Jerry L. Hudgins

Sarah A. Rajala

John D. McDonald

Christopher Geiger

Directors at Large

Alex Acero

Nim Cheung

Lorena Garcia

Philip Krein

Karen Panetta

Stephen Phillips

Saurabh Sinha

Tomy Sebastian

Sarah Spurgeon

Ex-Officio Members

Rajendra Asthana

Sean Bentley

David Michelson

Peter Kennedy

David H. Whyte

Members Emeriti

Henry L. Bachman

Dr. Leah H. Jamieson

John R. Treichler

Dr. David A. Conner, P.E.

David Green

Peter A Lewis, P.E.

Joseph V. Lillie

Frederick C. Mintzer

Board News

Engineering as Service

Celebrating World Gratitude Day: A Message from IEEE Foundation President, Marko Delimar

The Power of Friendship: Celebrating Connections within IEEE

IEEE Foundation Establishes Memorial Fund to Honor Late Board Member Mary Ellen Martin Zellerbach

IEEE Foundation Directors Witness STEM Excitement at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, IL, USA

Igniting the Future: A Message from Marko Delimar, IEEE Foundation President

Celebrating New Leadership at the IEEE Foundation: Welcoming Philip Krein and Saurabh Sinha to the Board of Directors

President Ford Concludes His Term and Establishes a Clear Vision for the IEEE Foundation’s Future

Direct Philanthropy and Scholarships: A Virtuous Cycle

IEEE’s Philanthropic Programs Featured as the Heart of the Inaugural Life Members Conference

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