Edward K. Reedy (born April 22, 1940) was the director of the

Georgia Tech Research Institute The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. GTRI employs around 2,400 people, and is involved in approximately $600 millio ...

(GTRI) from 1998 to 2003, and correspondingly a vice president of the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. He first joined GTRI in 1970, and specialized in radar system development and electromagnetic scattering. Reedy held a variety of research and leadership positions within the organization, including the head of Research Operations and four years as associate director.

Early life and education

Reedy was born in Johnson City, Tennessee on April 22, 1940. He attended high school at Boones Creek High School. Reedy received a Bachelor of Science in 1963, a Master of Science in 1964 and a Ph.D. in 1968 in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, all from the University of Tennessee.

Career

Reedy was in the United States Army Reserve for 21 years, which included two years (1968-1970) as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

( Signal Corps Officer) at the Communications Electronics Command in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. In 1970, Reedy joined the

as a junior research engineer. Reedy steadily progressed through the ranks; from 1974 to 1975, he was the head of the Systems Technology Branch; from 1975 to 1977 he was the Chief of the Radar Application Division; and from 1977 to 1990 (13 years) he was the director of GTRI's Radar and Instrumentation Laboratory. In 1990, he became a Laboratory Group Director, where he was responsible for approximately half of the organization. From 1993 to 1997, Reedy was the associate director of GTRI and director of research operations. Reedy has been an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, however the genera ...

for Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 1987. After GTRI director Richard Truly's departure in March 1997 to become director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Reedy served as interim director for eight months, and was subsequently named director of GTRI. As director, Reedy was particularly influential in securing the $7.3 million in funding required to build the Food Processing Technology Building. Under his leadership, GTRI's first endowed chair was established in March 1998 in honor of

Glen P. Robinson Glen Parmelee Robinson, Jr. (September 10, 1923 – January 16, 2013), called the "father of high-tech industry in Georgia", was an American businessman and founder of Scientific Atlanta, now a subsidiary of Cisco Systems. Robinson was the fi ...

, the $1.5 million Glen P. Robinson Chair in Electro-Optics. GTRI and Georgia Tech played host to sitting president George W. Bush in March 2002, and demonstrated new technologies in a simulated disaster. In 2003, Reedy retired from the GTRI directorship after 33 years at the organization and seven as director. Reedy currently works part-time for the

GTRI Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory The Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory (simply referred to as SEAL) is one of eight labs in the Georgia Tech Research Institute and one of three labs under the Sensors and Intelligent Systems directorate. SEAL researchers investiga ...

and as an independent consultant.

Memberships and honors

Reedy is an IEEE member, and was named an IEEE Fellow in 1991 "for technical leadership and contributions to developing and exploiting the millimeter wavelengths in radar applications". In 1995, he was the president of IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society. From 1998 to 2000, Reedy served on IEEE's national board and was Director of Division IX. In addition, Reedy has served on numerous IEEE committees including the

IEEE Technical Activities Board The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

(1995 to 2001). In 2000, he received the IEEE Third Millennium Medal. Since 2002, he has been on the IEEE Strategic Planning Committee, and since 2004, he has been on the selection committee for the

IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for Radar Technologies and Applications The IEEE Dennis J. Picard Medal for Radar Technologies and Applications is an award presented for outstanding accomplishments in advancing the fields of radar technologies and their applications. This award can be presented to an individual or ...

. Reedy is currently Executive Chair of the 2012 IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society Radar Conference, RadarCon. Reedy was on the

Army Science Board The Army Science Board (ASB) provides advice about army science to senior military leaders. The ASB is a Federal Advisory Committee organized under the Federal Advisory Committee Act. It is the United States Department of the Army senior scienti ...

for two three-year terms, from 1993 to 1996 and 1999 to 2005, and served on a Tri-Service Panel led by the Naval Research Advisory Committee to study the "Science and Technology Community in Crisis". In 2004, he was named an honorary alumnus of the

Selected publications

Books

Book chapters

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reedy, Edward K. Georgia Tech faculty Georgia Tech Research Institute people Fellows of the IEEE Living people 1940 births University of Tennessee alumni