IEEE elects new president for 2012

Engineering professional association IEEE has elected US technologist Gordon W. Day as its 50th president.

The organisation today announced that Day would step up to the role of president and CEO on January 1, 2012, after serving on IEEE's board of directors as president-elect this year.

Day, an electrical engineer from Boulder, Colorado, had experience in research, management and public policy, having spent most of his career at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

He founded and led the NIST Optoelectronics Division, where he worked on fundamental optical measurements, optical communication standards, and new concepts in optical and electronic instrumentation.

More recently, he also served as science advisor to US senator Jay Rockefeller, and as director of government relations for the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association.

Within the IEEE, Day also previously served as president of the IEEE Photonics Society and of IEEE-USA.

He had bachelors, masters and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and was a fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, Optical Society of America and the Institute of Physics.

Day will succeed 2011 IEEE President Moshe Kam of Drexel University, Philadelphia.