Biography

My house and parents in Chios, Greece (from 1997-2004 DK eyewitness travel guide for Greek Islands)

Dr. John L. Volakis (S’77–M’82–SM’89–F96) was born in Chios, Greece, on May 13, 1956, and immigrated to the U.S.A. in 1973. He received the B.E. degree (summa cum laude) from Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from The Ohio State University, Columbus, in 1979 and 1982, respectively.

Prof. Volakis is an IEEE, ACES, AAAS, NAI and URSI Fellow. He served as Dean of Engineering and Computing at FIU from 2017-2023. His career spans 4 decades: 2 years at Boeing, 19 years on the faculty at the Univ of Michigan and 15 years at Ohio State, and 7 years at FIU.

After his PhD in 1982, he was recruited by North American Aircraft Operations (now part of part of the Boeing Company), where he carried out critical design innovations for the B1-B bomber. He began his academic career at The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 1984. During 1984-2003 he played a key role in reviving the Radiation Laboratory into becoming the leading RF/Electromagnetics laboratory worldwide. At the Michigan Radiaton Lab, he graduated nearly 45 PhDs/Post-Docs and also served as its Director. During his time at Michigan, he led a large group of students and researchers, developed novelties in diffraction and radar scattering, particularly as relates to impedance/material surfaces, and played a key role in establishing the finite element method as one of the most popular Microwave/Electromagnetics analysis toolsets, now found in several commercial packages. He also supported the commercialization of these packages by working with start-up companies.

In 2003, he was recruited by his alma mater, The Ohio State University, to lead the historic ElectroScience Laboratory. At Ohio State, he was the Roy and Lois Chope Chair in Engineering and a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. (2003-2017). He served as the Director of the Ohio State Univ. ElectroScience Laboratory for 14 years. During this time, ElectroScience reached 170 faculty, researchers and staff, and acquired a new 40,000 ft2 building to support its growth. More importantly, ElectroScience became a leading RF/electromagnetics center, growing from $3.5MM per year in funding to nearly $15MM per year at its peak.

After a highly successful period at Ohio State, he was appointed Dean of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University (FIU), one of the largest Colleges in the U.S. based on student population. During his time as Dean, the College’s student population also grew from approximately 5400 to 8700 students, while its U.S. News and World Report rankings improved by more than 40 points to reach #61 among public Universities in 2023. Concurrently, eight of its programs reached top 50 status. Also, in less than 7 years, the College’s four-year graduation rate increase from nearly 19% in 2017 to 60% in 2023, and its research expenditures grew 3-fold, reaching $75MM. Further, he established a robust fund-raising team with an exciting college alumni advisory team that led to $125MM in external fund raising.

Full Resume/Vita

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