Dr. Harry L. Van Trees, Class of 1952, is the recipient of the 2015 IEEE Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Gold Medal, which is given for outstanding achievements and for recognized major technological advancement in the field of signal processing. He is the first West Point graduate to win an IEEE Gold Medal.
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) is the world's largest professional association, with over 400,000 members worldwide. Its core purpose is to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Its roots go back to 1884, when the American Institute of Electrical Engineers was formed by such pioneers as Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell.
The Jack S. Kilby Signal Processing Award memorializes Doctor Kilby, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000 for the invention of the transistor. The medal's citation honoring Dr. Van Trees reads: “For fundamental contributions to detection, estimation, and modulation theory; sensor array processing: and Bayesian bounds.” In each of these areas, Dr. Van Trees has written the classic books.
Dr. and Mrs. Van Trees have endowed the enrichment program in the EECS department and his books are displayed in the department.