Fusion researcher Dr. Ned Sauthoff of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratorty (PPPL) became president of The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of America (IEEE-USA) on Jan. 1, 2001. He served the past year as president-elect of the organization. IEEE-USA has more than 230,000 members.
As president, Dr. Sauthoff is the highest-ranking volunteer member of IEEE-USA and will chair its board of directors. He will also serve at the international level on the IEEE executive committee and board of directors. Dr. Sauthoff said he plans to work with IEEE-USA volunteers and staff to realize the great potential for electrotechnology and information technology to improve the quality of life. "We will address that mission both by building careers and by shaping public policy," he said. "IEEE, as the leading technological professional society in the world, has a responsibility to serve by providing both authoritative perspectives to decision makers and professional development tools to our members."
"In 2001, we will provide improved tools to a greater number of our members and will enhance our public-policy grassroots outreach by engaging our geographically dispersed membership in all U.S Congressional districts," Sauthoff said.
Dr. Sauthoff, a physicist, heads the Off-site Research Department of PPPL He began his career there after he earned a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Princeton University in 1975. He has headed numerous departments at PPPL, including the Physics Department from 1992-94, and the Plasma Science and Technology Department from 1994-97.
Dr. Sauthoff pointed out that in the area of building careers, IEEE-USA sponsors conferences and symposia; develops and disseminates career-development tools; argues for a strong U.S. engineering workforce through programs ranging from pre-college to continuing education, to permanent immigration; and supports pension portability for a mobile workforce. In the area of technology policy, IEEE-USA works for reliable restructuring of the electric supply industry; strong research and development through both industrial tax incentives and federal funding; fair intellectual property rights in today's economy; and privacy and reliability of the information infrastructure.
In 1998-99, Dr. Sauthoff served as IEEE-USA vice president of Technology Policy Activities. He began his work with IEEE-USA's Technology Policy Council (TPC) in 1988 and by 1997 had risen to TPC vice-chair. He was presented the IEEE-USA Divisional Professional Leadership Award in 1996 in recognition of his accomplishments as chair of the organization's Energy Policy Committee in 1994-95.
Dr. Sauthoff received a bachelor's degree in physics in 1971 and a master's in nuclear engineering in 1972, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has held his current position at PPPL since 1997. The laboratory is the largest facility in the U.S. studying the physics of the high-temperature gases, called plasmas, which are used to create fusion energy -- an attractive energy source for the future. The PPPL is funded by the DOE and managed by Princeton University.
For more background information on Dr. Sauthoff, visit http://www.ieeeusa.org/volunteers/sauthoff.html.
IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of the IEEE created in 1973 to promote the careers and public-policy interests of the more than 230,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE, the world's largest technical professional society. For more information, visit http://www.ieeeusa.org.