John Brooks Slaughter (born 16 March 1934) is an American
electrical engineer
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 ...
and former college president who served as the first
African-American director of the
National Science Foundation (NSF). His work focuses on development of
computer algorithms for
system optimization and
discrete signal processing.
Early life and education
Slaughter was born in and grew up in
Topeka, Kansas, and attended
Topeka High School. After two years at
Washburn University, Slaughter transferred and earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from
Kansas State University
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...
in 1956, an M.S. in engineering from the
University of California, Los Angeles in 1961, and a Ph.D. in engineering sciences from the
University of California, San Diego in 1971.
Academic career
He took a civilian position at the
United States Navy Electronics Laboratory in San Diego in 1960. He was appointed Director of the Applied Physics Laboratory of the
University of Washington in 1975. He joined the NSF in 1977 as assistant director for Astronomics, Atmospherics, Earth and Ocean Sciences. From 1980 to 1982 he was Director of the NSF.
[Staff report (June 12, 1982)]
National Science Chief To Leave Federal Post.
'' New York Times''
He was elected to membership in the
National Academy of Engineering in 1982. From 1982 to 1988 Slaughter served as
Chancellor of the University of Maryland, College Park, then served as President of
Occidental College
Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...
in Los Angeles from 1988 to 1999. In 1999 he was appointed Melbo Professor of Leadership in Education at the
University of Southern California.
Awards and honors
*Awarded the
IEEE Founders Medal for 2022.
*
Mount Slaughter
Mount Slaughter is an ice-free peak, rising to D. Gildea''Mountaineering in Antarctica: Climbing in the Frozen South''.Nevicata, 2010 on a spur trending southwest from Opalchenie Peak on Vinson Plateau, Sentinel Range, in the Ellsworth Mountai ...
, one of the peaks of the
Sentinel Range of the
Ellsworth Mountains in
Antarctica
References
Further reading
*Kessler, J., Kidd, J. Kidd R. & Morin, K. (1996). ''Distinguished African American Scientists of the 20th Century''. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. pp. 292–296.
External links
John Brooks Slaughter profilevia The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, John Brooks
1934 births
Living people
People from Topeka, Kansas
Washburn University alumni
Kansas State University alumni
UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
University of California, San Diego alumni
University of Washington faculty
Presidents of the University of Maryland, College Park
Presidents of Occidental College
University of Southern California faculty
United States National Science Foundation officials
Electrical engineering academics
American electrical engineers
African-American academics
United States Navy civilians
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Engineers from California
Reagan administration personnel
Carter administration personnel