Provost Office
Professor Fawwaz T. Ulaby
Former Provost
Professor Fawwaz T. Ulaby served as KAUST’s Provost from March 2008 until April 2009. He also held an appointment as Professor of Electrical Engineering.
As the University’s chief academic officer during its critical developmental phase, Professor Ulaby recruited a critical mass of exceptional researchers, academics, and students from around the world. He also established standards and set priorities for the school’s curricula, Research Centers and Academic Divisions, ensuring the quality of education and research on the campus in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, for many years to come.
Professor Ulaby also helped shape KAUST’s development through his leadership on the Academic Leadership and Presidential Search Committees.
Academic Career
After completing a seven-year assignment as vice president for research at the University of Michigan, with responsibility for an $800 million research enterprise, Professor Ulaby returned in 2006 to his faculty position as that school’s R. Jamison and Betty Williams Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. His research involves the use of radar on satellite platforms, and he recently served as the chair of the Radar Review Team for the Phoenix spacecraft, which was launched on August 4, 2007, and is now on a trajectory for landing on Mars in May of 2008.
Professor Ulaby is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), and serves on several international scientific boards and commissions.
Since joining the University of Michigan in 1984, he has directed large, interdisciplinary NASA projects and served as the founding director of the NASA Center for Space Terahertz Technology. He has authored 12 books, published some 600 scientific papers, and supervised 115 M.S. and Ph.D. graduate students.
Honors & Awards
In recognition for his outstanding teaching and distinguished scholarship, he has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards from universities, government agencies, and scientific organizations. Among them are the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Distinguished Achievement Award (1983), the Kuwait Prize for Applied Science (1987), the NASA Achievement Award (1990), the University of Michigan Regents Medal for Meritorious Service (1996), the IEEE Millennium Medal (2000), the 2002 William Pecora Award, a joint recognition by NASA and the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Distinguished FEA Alumni Award from the American University of Beirut (2006).
In 2006, he was selected by the students in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science as “Professor of the Year,” and shortly thereafter, he was awarded the Thomas Edison Medal, the oldest and most coveted medal in the field of electrical and computer engineering.
Background
Professor Ulaby grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, and attended the American University of Beirut, from which he received a bachelor's of science degree in physics in 1964. Three years later, he completed his doctorate in electrical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin.
Throughout his career, he has maintained close affiliation with many academic institutions in the Arab world. In Michigan, he served as co-chair of the Advisory Board of the Arab American National Museum, a great institution that features the contributions of Arab American scientists, authors, artists, and national leaders.