Victor B. Lawrence (born May 10, 1945, in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

) is a Ghanaian-American engineer credited with contributions in digital signal processing in communications. He is a Research Professor and Director of the Center for Intelligent Networked Systems (iNetS) at

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely dedicated to mechanical ...

, where he also served as Associate Dean. He was inducted into the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also opera ...

in 2016. He is a Member of the

US National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along ...

, a Fellow of the

IEEE 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 ...

, Fellow of

AT&T 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 ...

, and Charter Fellow of the

National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging inventors in academia, following the model of the National Academies of the United States. It was founded at the University of South Florida in 2010. ...

Career

Lawrence worked for one year as a development engineer in the United Kingdom after graduation and then spent two semesters lecturing at Kumasi University of Science and Technology now

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) is a public University of Ghana that focuses on science and technology. The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is the public university established in the country, as well a ...

in Ghana. Lawrence thereafter joined

Bell Laboratories 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 ...

in 1974 and served as supervisor of AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Department head of Data Communication Research, Director of Advanced Multimedia Communications, and Vice President of Advanced Communications Technology before his departure in 2005. Beginning in 1996, Lawrence lectured for several years at the U.S. Industrial College of the Armed Force. As a visiting professor, he taught signal processing and data networking courses at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, and

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. Lawrence also instructed courses in Technology Management and Technology Incubation at Bell Laboratories to new engineers. In 2005, Lawrence was appointed as the director of the Center for Intelligent Networked Systems, and was named associate dean and Charles Batchler Chair Professor of Engineering at the

. He has co-coauthored five books: ''Introduction to Digital Filters'', ''Tutorials on Modem Communications'', ''Intelligent Broadband Multimedia Networks'', ''Design and Engineering of Intelligent Communications Systems'', and ''The Art of Scientific Innovation''. Lawrence holds more than twenty U.S. and international patents and has had more than forty-five papers in referenced journals and conference proceedings, covering the topics of digital signal processing and data communications.

Education

Victor Lawrence attended Achimota Secondary School,

Achimota Achimota ( ), is a town in the Accra Metropolitan District, a district of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. Achimota means "speak no name" in the Ga language Ga is a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, in and around the capital Accra. There ar ...

, Ghana, between the years of 1957 and 1964. He then proceeded to advance his education at

Imperial College of Science and Technology Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

to obtain his Bachelor of Science degree in 1968, his M.S. degree in 1969, and his Ph.D. degree in 1972, all in electrical engineering.

Awards and honors

Lawrence has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including: * 1981
Guillemin-Cauer Prize Award
IEEE Circuits & Systems Society * 1984: J. Harry Karp Best Paper Award at Interface '84 * 1986:

University of California at 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 univ ...

, Chancellor's Distinguished Lecture Series * 1987: Fellow of IEEE * 1992: Fellow of

* 1995: Black Engineer for Outstanding Technical Contributions * 1997:

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for HDTV Grand Alliance Standard * 2000: IEEE Millennium Medal * 2003: Member of

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 ...

* 2004: IEEE Award in International Communications * 2007:

IEEE Simon Ramo Medal The IEEE Simon Ramo Medal is an award for exceptional achievement in systems engineering and systems science, and was established by the IEEE Board of Directors in 1982. The medal is named for Simon Ramo, one of the founders of the TRW corporati ...

for leadership in world-wide data communications networks * 2012: Charter Fellow of

(NAI) * 2016: National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductee

References

External Links

Inductee to the National Inventors Hall Of Fame in 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Victor Living people 1945 births Alumni of the University of London American engineers Ghanaian educators Ghanaian engineers Stevens Institute of Technology faculty