Jim Kurose named to National Academy of Engineering

The member of the Scientific Council of IMDEA Networks has been recognized for his contributions to computer networking research

13 February 2020

Dr. Jim Kurose, member of the Scientific Council of IMDEA Networks Institute since 2006 and member of its Board of Trustees until 2014, has been named to National Academy of Engineering (NAE) on February 7. The University of Massachusetts Amherst Distinguished Professor has been conferred this distinction for “contributions to the design and analysis of network protocols for multimedia communication.”

The NAE has elected 87 new members and 18 international members including Kurose. This brings the total U.S. membership to 2,309 and the number of international members to 281. The Professor says of the honor: “(…) so pleased that NAE recognizes the research activities I’ve undertaken with so many fabulous students and colleagues throughout my career here at UMass Amherst.”

CICS Dean Laura Haas points out she is “thrilled, but not surprised, by this well-deserved honor”. And she adds: “Jim is a pioneer in his field, with foundational results spanning all areas of data networking, but especially in network support for multimedia communication. Add to that his definitive textbook, his renown as a teacher, and his strong record of service, and he is the epitome of what we look for in NAE members.”

Being elected by the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions granted to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

It is important to highlight that this process takes a whole year. The ballot is set in December and the final vote for membership occurs during January. Newly elected members will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on October 4.

About Jim Kurose

Kurose is Distinguished Professor at UMass Amherst‘s School of Computer Science (USA), a position he has held since 2004. He was most recently on leave from UMass, serving as assistant director at the National Science Foundation from 2015-2019, where he led the Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). He also served as the Assistant Director for Artificial Intelligence in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He is looking forward to returning to campus full time in the Fall of 2020.

With Keith Ross, he coauthored the textbook, Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach. Kurose is also the author or co-author of nearly 300 refereed technical publications. In 2013, he received the Chancellor’s Medal, the highest recognition given for service to the campus.

Dr. Kurose completed his undergraduate degree in physics at Wesleyan University, and received his Ph.D. in computer science at Columbia. He joined the UMass Amherst computer science department in 1984 and has served as department chair and interim dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, plus many national and international science advisory boards and panels. He has held a number of visiting scientist positions in the U.S. and abroad, including at IBM Research, INRIA and the Sorbonne University in France, and has served on government and nonprofit advisory boards here and abroad. Besides, he is a Fellow of the ACM and the IEEE.

Among his research interests are computer network protocols and architecture, network measurement, sensor networks, multimedia communication and modeling and performance evaluation.