Ernest Shiu-Jen Kuh (; 2 October 1928 – 27 June 2015) was a Chinese-born American electrical engineer. He served as Dean of the College of Engineering of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Biography

Kuh was born in Beijing on 2 October 1928 to Zone S. Keh and Tsai Chu. Kuh was the youngest son of six siblings; he also had a younger sister. His father was a Nationalist government official, and later worked for a bank. Ernest Kuh was raised in Shanghai and attended

Nanyang Model High School Shanghai Nanyang Model High School (), often referred to simply as Nanmo (), is one of the oldest modern Chinese schools, founded in 1901 by Sheng Xuanhuai, Minister of Transportation of the Qing dynasty. As "the beginning of public elementary ...

before enrolling at

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU; ) is a public research university in Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university was established on April 8, 1896 as Nanyang Public School (南洋� ...

from 1945 to 1947 for electrical engineering. In December 1947, Kuh escaped the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

, arriving in the United States, where he finished his bachelor's degree at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He earned his master's degree from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

. Upon graduating from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

with a doctorate in electrical engineering, Kuh worked for

Bell Labs Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984), then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996) and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007), is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...

until 1956. In 1956, he joined the faculty of the

on the recommendation of Donald Pederson, whom Kuh had met at Bell Labs. Kuh was named chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences in 1968, and appointed the dean of the College of Engineering in 1973. Later that year, Kuh returned to China for the first time since he left in 1947, and in his later career, repeatedly traveled to China, Japan, and Taiwan to enhance the teaching of electrical engineering. Kuh left his position as dean in 1980 and spent more time researching

electronic design automation Electronic design automation (EDA), also referred to as electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), is a category of software tools for designing Electronics, electronic systems such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The tools wo ...

. In 1990, he was named the William S. Floyd Professor in Engineering.

Personal life

Kuh was married to his wife Bettine for 58 years until his death. They had two sons, Anthony and Theodore, and three grandsons, Matthew, Jason and Evan. Kuh died on 27 June 2015 at the age of 86.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuh, Ernest S. 1928 births 2015 deaths Scientists from Beijing University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Chinese Civil War refugees Nanyang Model High School alumni National Chiao Tung University (Shanghai) alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Stanford University School of Engineering alumni UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Fellow Members of the IEEE Chinese emigrants to the United States American electrical engineers Scientists at Bell Labs Members of Academia Sinica