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Donations to the IEEE Foundation enable, among other initiatives, IEEE programs that support and encourage the next generation of innovators. Two donor-supported programs that benefit the student, IEEE and those interested in the history of technology are, The IEEE Elizabeth & Emerson Pugh Young Scholar in Residence and The IEEE Life Members Graduate Study Fellowship in Electrical Engineering.

The IEEE Elizabeth & Emerson Pugh Young Scholar in Residence program, enabled by a generous donation from its namesakes, provides research experience for students in the history of technology and engineering, while enlisting the help of promising scholars for the History Center’s projects.

The 2022 Pugh Visiting Scholar is Konstantinos Konstantis, a doctoral candidate in the History of Technology at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). Konstantis graduated from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens. Konstantis’ work is driven by the belief that artificial intelligence ethics cannot be adequately studied without the inclusion of an integration of science, technology and society.

His doctoral dissertation titled, “Contextualizing the Emergence of Engineering Ethics,”  investigates the emergence, development and crystallization of the field of engineering ethics. Specifically, it aims at the reconceptualization of the ethical concerns that this emergence has produced, and, mainly, at the formulation of a framework within which these concerns can be addressed. It is no surprise that Konstantis will research ethics in engineering during his time with the History Center. 

“I believe that being accepted as The Elizabeth & Emerson Pugh Young Scholar in Residence at the IEEE History Center [will] be ideal at this stage of my research. [It] will provide me with the necessary resources to advance in my doctoral research in the best possible environment. It is essential and necessary for my research to take advantage of a variety of primary resources of the IEEE History Center. It is my intention to focus on engineering-related material from the 1970s to the present, because it is when the first articles on engineering ethics appeared,” said Konstantis when applying for the position.
 
The IEEE Fellowship in the History of Electrical and Computing Technology was established in 1977 and has been presented since 1978. The IEEE History and Life Members Committees worked together to establish it, and it is administered by the IEEE History Center. We thank the generous donors who support the IEEE Life Members Fund of the IEEE Foundation, which makes this fellowship possible.
 
David E. Dunning is the 2022-2023 IEEE Life Member History Fellowship and 45th recipient of this prestigious fellowship. Dunning holds a Ph.D. in History of Science from Princeton University. He is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Oxford and in 2022–23 will be affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania as a Lecturer in the Integrated Studies Program.
 
Dunning is a historian of science, mathematics and computing in modern Europe and North America. His research explores the material and social dimensions of abstract knowledge. He is launching a project that explores the early history of programming languages in tandem with conceptions of language more broadly, investigating how different visions of human language shaped and were shaped by the evolution of programming practices.