OXFORD, Miss. – Kai-Fong Lee, engineering dean at the University of
Mississippi, has been chosen to receive the prestigious John Kraus
Antenna Award.
The award, which is presented annually by the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers’ Antennas and Propagation Society, recognizes
an individual or team that has made exceptional contributions to the
field of antennas through innovation. Lee was selected for his
invention of the wideband U-slot patch antenna and for expanding the
U-slot technique to small size, dual/triple band and circular
polarization applications.
Lee will receive the award in June during the 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and the USNC/URSI National Radio Science Meeting in Charleston, S.C. The IEEE is the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology.
“The John Kraus Award recognizes exceptional contributions to the antenna field through innovation,” Lee said. “I regard this recognition as the
crowning achievement of my research on antennas and is a dream come true.”
A short paper outlining his expertise in this area will be included in the symposium program, and he will be permitted to speak before the delegates for about 15 minutes.
Colleagues and fellow administrators have begun congratulating Lee upon hearing the news of his award.
“I was very happy to learn that Dean Lee has been recognized for his outstanding research in the field of antennas through this prestigious award,” said Allen Glisson, UM chair and professor of electrical engineering. “Dean Lee has made numerous contributions to the field and this well-deserved award recognizes one contribution of particular importance.”
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We are very proud of Dean Lee and his nationally recognized research accomplishments in the field of antenna technology,” said UM Provost Morris Stocks. “This award confirms Dean Lee’s brilliant research record and is a reflection of how his colleagues perceive his innovative approach to an important area of research.
“Dean Lee’s continued dedication to his own research agenda is reflected in the research productivity of the faculty of the School of Engineering.”
As a graduate student in the 1960s, Lee said he was fascinated by John Kraus’ book “Antennas.” Students and professionals alike regarded the book as the “antenna bible,” he said.
Lee said he was equally fascinated by the many novel antennas invented by Kraus, including the helical antenna, which was the workhorse for space communication applications.
Lee has been dean of UM’s School of Engineering and professor of electrical engineering since January 2001. He was educated in electrical engineering at Queen’s University (Canada) and Cornell University. He has held research appointments at the University of California San Diego, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA.
His faculty posts have been at the Catholic University of America, Chinese University of Hong Kong and University of Akron.
His academic administrative appointments include founding head of the Department of Electronic Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong, chair and professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Toledo, and chair and LaPierre Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Lee worked on plasma waves and instabilities from 1965 to 1980. Since 1981, his research interest has focused on antennas. His publications include the textbook Principles of Antenna Theory and the edited book “Advances in Microstrip and Printed Antennas.” He is a Fellow of IEEE and a Fellow of IEE.
For more information on the School of Engineering, go to http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/engineering?school/ .