Herbert Winful Explained

Herbert Graves Winful
Birth Date:1952 12, df=yes
Birth Place:London, England
Alma Mater:St Augustine's College
Thesis Title:Optical bistability in periodic structures and in four-wave mixing processes
Thesis Url:https://www.proquest.com/docview/1642763727/59635689163949F2PQ/12?accountid=14696#
Thesis Year:1980
Doctoral Advisor:John Marburger

Herbert Graves Winful (born 3 December 1952)[1] is a Ghanaian-American engineering professor, whose honours include in 2020 the Quantum Electronics Award.[2] He is the Joseph E. and Anne P. Rowe Professor of Electrical Engineering, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and a Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan.[3]

Early years and education

Winful was born in London, England, to Margaret Ferguson Graves, a teacher, and Herbert Francis, an engineer. Winful grew up in Cape Coast, Ghana,[4] where he attended Catholic Jubilee School and St Augustine's College. In 1975 he earned a BS in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (where he was mentored by Hermann A. Haus), followed by an M.S. in Electrical Engineering (1977) and a PhD in 1981 from the University of Southern California. His thesis was titled "Optical bistability in periodic structures and in four-wave mixing processes" and his doctoral advisor was John Marburger.[5]

From 1980 to 1986, Winful was a Principal Member of Technical Staff at GTE Laboratories in Waltham, Massachusetts,[6] conducting research in fiber optics and semiconductor laser physics.

Career

In 1987 Winful took up the post of associate professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) department at the University of Michigan, and was promoted to become a full professor in 1992, then a year later promoted to an endowed professorship as Thurnau Professor.

As noted by Anis Haffar: "His many contributions to photonics and quantum electronics include pioneering work on nonlinear optical periodic structures; the nonlinear dynamics of coherently coupled laser arrays; the physics of quantum tunneling time; polarization instabilities and distributed-feedback fiber Raman lasers."

A close colleague at the University of Michigan was Gérard Mourou,[7] who in 2018 was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of a technique known as Chirped Pulse Amplification.[8]

Having published more than 130 journal articles[9] and supervised the research of PhD students, Winful is himself the recipient of many awards, most recently the 2020 IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award, which he was given "for pioneering the field of nonlinear optical periodic structures and for foundational contributions to nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor laser arrays".

Among his other distinctions are the EECS Outstanding Achievement Award, the College of Engineering Teaching Excellence and Service Excellence Awards, the Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize, the Amoco/University of Michigan Teaching Excellence Award, the State of Michigan Teaching Excellence Award, and the Raymond J. and Monica E. Schultz Outreach and Diversity Award, as well as twice voted Professor of the Year in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and named the Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Professor in the College of Engineering.

In January 2021, he was a recipient of the University of Michigan North Campus Deans' MLK Spirit Award, given to those "who exemplify the leadership and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."[10]

In November 2022, Winful was inducted as a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS).[11]

Family and personal life

Winful's mother was the headmistress of St. Michael's School in Cape Coast, and his father was a civil engineer who worked on the Akosombo Dam during its construction and later become executive secretary of the Volta River Authority.

Winful is also a musician, during his Cape Coast school days playing rhythm guitar in a pop band, as well as organ in church. He continues to play the piano recreationally — including the music of Bach, Chopin and Brahms, as well as his own compositions — and has said: "It is my greatest joy, next to my work."[12] [13] Winful performed one of his own original compositions at a party attended by some two hundred people in celebration of Gérard Mourou's 2018 Nobel win, and also honoured Mourou with the gift of a piece of Kente cloth.

Selected honours and recognition

Publications

Selected articles

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biographical Description for The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History with Herbert Winful . The HistoryMakers.
  2. Web site: Quantum Electronics Award – 2020 Honoree. IEEE Photonics Society. 18 July 2010.
  3. News: Ghanaian engineering professor wins 'Quantum Electronics Award'. Anis. Haffar. Education Matters. 16 July 2020. 17 July 2020.
  4. Web site: Herbert Winful. Computer Scientists of the African Diaspora. 17 July 2010.
  5. Web site: Herbert Winful's Biography . 2023-05-10 . The HistoryMakers . en.
  6. Web site: Herbert Winful: Theoretical Optics and Photonics. Michigan Engineering.
  7. Web site: Nobel Prize winners talk research, Nobel ceremony, and are remembered by U-M colleagues. Hayley . Hanway. 7 January 2020. 17 July 2020.
  8. News: U-M professor emeritus shares 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. Nicole Casal. Moore. The University Record. University of Michigan. 2 October 2018. 17 July 2020.
  9. Web site: Herbert G. Winful - Publications. Physics tree. 18 July 2020.
  10. Web site: North Campus Deans' Virtual MLK Spirit Awards. Arts Engine. University of Michigan. January 2021.
  11. Web site: Academy of Arts and Sciences inducts 15 new fellows. Edward. Acquah. Ghana News Agency. 16 November 2022. 2 December 2022.
  12. Web site: Herbert Winful. LaserFest. 18 July 2020.
  13. Web site: 'Spirit Dreams' by Herbert Winful. Vimeo. 18 July 2020.
  14. Web site: Herbert Winful awarded the 2021 Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award . 2023-07-09 . Electrical and Computer Engineering . en-US.
  15. Web site: Herbert Winful receives Outreach and Diversity Award from the College of Engineering . 2023-07-09 . Electrical and Computer Engineering . en-US.

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