UW Professor Named IEEE Fellow

December 3, 2012 — John Pierre, a University of Wyoming professor who pioneered new methods to help ensure safe and reliable operation of the United States power grid, has been named an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow.

Fellows are recognized for extraordinary achievements within an IEEE-related field. It is the highest grade of membership and is recognized by the technical community as a prestigious honor and an important career achievement. The total number selected in any one year cannot exceed one-tenth of one percent of the total voting membership.

Nominated for his work by UW President Tom Buchanan, Pierre has made great achievements in researching energy stability and has developed an analytic model for power grid consumption and regulation. This allows electrical operators to monitor power grid stability and avoid major power blackouts.

Pierre’s research attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Energy, power utilities and the power industry. The methods he and his colleagues invented are the foundation of new software being integrated into control centers for monitoring the power grid’s reliability.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have collaborated with excellent colleagues and graduate students over the years,” Pierre says.

Pierre joined the UW faculty in 1992 after earning both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering with a minor in statistics at the University of Minnesota. He received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering with a minor in economics from Montana State University.

While at UW, he has received three Mortar Board Top Prof Awards for undergraduate teaching and service, and also received the College of Engineering and Applied Science award for Research and Graduate Teaching in 2005. He is active in and has published in the journals of the IEEE Power and Energy, Signal Processing and Education Societies.

Through its 400,000 members in 160 countries, the IEEE is a world leader on a variety of areas, ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics.