Sergio Verdú (born
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, August 15, 1958) is a former professor of
electrical engineering and specialist in
information theory. Until September 22, 2018, he was the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
, where he taught and conducted research on information theory in the Information Sciences and Systems Group. He was also affiliated with the program in Applied and Computational Mathematics. He was dismissed from the faculty following a university investigation of alleged sexual misconduct.
Verdu received the Telecommunications Engineering degree from the
Polytechnic University of Catalonia
The Technical University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, , es, link=no, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest engineering university in Catalonia, Spai ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, in 1980 and the PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...
in 1984. Conducted at the
Coordinated Science Laboratory of the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, his doctoral research was supervised by
Vincent Poor
Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer'').
People with the given name Artists
*Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor
*Vincent van Gogh ...
and pioneered the field of
multiuser detection
Multiuser detection deals with demodulation of the mutually interfering digital streams of information that occur in areas such as wireless communications, high-speed data transmission, DSL, satellite communication, digital television, and magnet ...
. In 1998, his book ''Multiuser Detection'' was published by
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pre ...
.
Sexual harassment incident and dismissal from tenured position
A
Title IX
Title IX is the most commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part (Title IX) of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other educat ...
investigation by Princeton, made public in 2017 by the
Huffington Post, concluded that Verdú had sexually harassed one of his graduate students, a South Korean woman. According to the student, Verdú was required only to attend an 8-hour training session as a consequence. The student changed advisers and changed her research topic. A university spokesperson denied the claim that additional training was the only consequence for Verdú, stating that "penalties were imposed in addition to the required counseling", but did not identify what those penalties were. According to the Princeton Dean of Faculty, there were allegations that Verdú had also harassed others, but only the one student was willing to make a formal complaint. Verdú denied the findings of the investigation, stating: "The university advised me not to reply but I categorically deny that there were any advances or any sexual harassment."
He was subsequently dismissed from Princeton University as of September 22, 2018, following further consideration by the university, which said that "an investigation established that Dr. Verdu violated the university's policy prohibiting consensual relations with students, and its policy requiring honesty and cooperation in university matters".
Awards and honors
*
IEEE Fellow
As of 2019, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has 5,082 members designated Fellow, each of whom is associated with one of the 41 societies under the IEEE. The Fellow grade of membership is the highest level of membershi ...
(1993)
*
Frederick Emmons Terman Award from the
American Society for Engineering Education
The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) is a non-profit member association, founded in 1893, dedicated to promoting and improving engineering and engineering technology education. The purpose of ASEE is the advancement of education ...
(2000)
*IEEE Third Millennium Medal (2000)
*Doctorate ''
Honoris Causa'' from the
Polytechnic University of Catalonia
The Technical University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, , es, link=no, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest engineering university in Catalonia, Spai ...
(2005)
*Member of the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
(2007)
*Member of the
National Academy of Sciences (2014)
*Corresponding Member of the
Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain
The Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain (Spanish: Real Academia de Ingeniería, RAI) is a corporation under public law entity that is governed by its statutes and by its internal regulations. Its main function is to promote works and studies that ...
(2013)
*
Claude E. Shannon Award from the
IEEE Information Theory Society
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 operation ...
(2007)
*
IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (2008)
*
NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing
The NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "to recognize authors whose reviews have synthesized extensive and difficult material, rendering a significant service to science and influencing the cours ...
(2016)
His papers have received several awards:
*1992
IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award
*1998 Information Theory Paper Award from the
IEEE Information Theory Society
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 operation ...
*1998 Golden Jubilee Paper Award from the
IEEE Information Theory Society
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 operation ...
*2000 Paper Award from the Japan Telecommunications Advancement Foundation,
*2002 Leonard G. Abraham Prize from the
IEEE Communications Society
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 operation ...
(together with Ralf R. Müller), for best paper in the field of communications systems
*2006 Communications Society & Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award from the
IEEE Communications Society
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 operation ...
and the
IEEE Information Theory Society
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 operation ...
*2008 ''EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking'' Best Paper Award from the
European Association for Signal Processing (EURASIP)
*2009 Stephen O. Rice Prize from the
IEEE Communications Society
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 operation ...
(together with
Angel Lozano and Antonia Tulino), for best paper in the field of communications theory
*2011 Information Theory Paper Award from the
IEEE Information Theory Society
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 operation ...
He served as President of the
IEEE Information Theory Society
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 operation ...
in 1997.
He was the founding editor-in-chief of the journal ''
Foundations and Trends in Communications and Information Theory''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdu, Sergio
1958 births
Living people
People from Barcelona
University of Illinois alumni
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Information theorists
Fellow Members of the IEEE
Princeton University faculty
Polytechnic University of Catalonia alumni