Sergio Verdú
Sergio Verdú (born Barcelona, Spain, August 15, 1958) was the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, where he taught and conducted research on Information Theory in the Information Sciences and Systems Group. He was also affiliated with the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics. He was dismissed from the faculty as of September 22, 2018, following a University investigation into his conduct in relation to University policies that prohibit consensual relations with students and require honesty and cooperation in University matters.[1]
Verdu received the Telecommunications Engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain, in 1980 and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984. Conducted at the Coordinated Science Laboratory of the University of Illinois, his doctoral research pioneered the field of multiuser detection. In 1998, Cambridge University Press published his book Multiuser Detection.
Sexual harassment incident & Dismissal from tenured position
A Title IX investigation by Princeton, made public in 2017 by the Huffington Post, found that Verdú had sexually harassed one of his graduate students, a South Korean woman. According to the student, Verdú was required only to attend an 8-hour training session as a consequence. The student changed advisers and research topic. A university spokesperson denied the claim that additional training was the only consequence for Verdú, stating that "penalties were imposed in addition to the required counseling", but did not specify those penalties. According to the Princeton Dean of Faculty, there were allegations that Verdú had harassed others, but only the one student was willing to make a formal complaint. Verdú denied the findings of the investigation, stating: "The university advised me not to reply but I categorically deny that there were any advances or any sexual harassment."[2][3] He was subsequently dismissed from Princeton University as of September 22, 2018, following further investigation into his conduct in relation to University policies that prohibit consensual relations with students and require honesty and cooperation in University matters.[4]
Awards and honors
- IEEE Fellow (1993)[5]
- Frederick Emmons Terman Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (2000)[6]
- IEEE Third Millennium Medal (2000),
- Doctorate Honoris Causa from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, (2005)
- Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2007)[7]
- Member of the National Academy of Science (2014)[8]
- Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain (2013)
- Claude E. Shannon Award from the IEEE Information Theory Society (2007)[9]
- IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (2008)[10]
- NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing (2016)
His papers have received several awards:
- 1992 IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award[11]
- 1998 Information Theory Paper Award from the IEEE Information Theory Society[12]
- 1998 Golden Jubilee Paper Award from the IEEE Information Theory Society[13]
- 2000 Paper Award from the Japan Telecommunications Advancement Foundation,
- 2002 Leonard G. Abraham Prize from the IEEE Communications Society (together with Ralf R. Müller), for best paper in the field of communications systems[14]
- 2006 ComSoc & IT Joint Paper Award from the IEEE Communications Society and the IEEE Information Theory Society[15]
- 2008 Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking Best Paper Award from the European Association for Signal Processing (EURASIP)[16]
- 2009 Stephen O. Rice Prize from the IEEE Communications Society (together with Angel Lozano and Antonia Tulino), for best paper in the field of communications theory[17]
- 2011 Information Theory Paper Award from the IEEE Information Theory Society [12]
He served as President of the IEEE Information Theory Society in 1997. He was the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Foundations and Trends in Communications and Information Theory.
References
- U. confirms Verdu's dismissal following misconduct investigation
- Vagianos, Alanna (November 9, 2017), "Grad Student Says Princeton Prof Who Sexually Harassed Her Was Given Slap On The Wrist", Huffington Post
- Flaherty, Colleen (November 13, 2017), "Scrutiny of Punishment for Professor Over Harassment", Inside Higher Education
- Brown, Marcia (September 29, 2018), "U. confirms Verdu's dismissal following misconduct investigation", The Daily Princetonian
- "Fellow Class of 1993". IEEE. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- "Past Frederick Emmons Terman Award Winners". American Society for Engineering Education. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- "NAE Members Directory - Dr. Sergio Verdu". NAE. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- . NAS https://web.archive.org/web/20150818062140/http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/april-29-2014-NAS-Election.html. Archived from the original on August 18, 2015. Retrieved April 29, 2014. Missing or empty
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(help) - "Claude E. Shannon Award". IEEE Information Theory Society. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- "IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
- "IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved January 2, 2011.
- "Information Theory Paper Award". IEEE Information Theory Society. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
- "Golden Jubilee Paper Awards". IEEE Information Theory Society. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
- "The Communications Society Leonard G. Abraham Prize in the Field of Communications Systems". IEEE Communications Society. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- "ComSoc & IT Joint Paper Award". IEEE Information Theory Society. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
- "Best Papers : EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking". European Association for Signal Processing. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
- "The Communications Society Stephen O. Rice Prize in the Field of Communications Theory". IEEE Communications Society. Retrieved January 5, 2011.