Thomas Kailath

Infobox_Scientist
name = Thomas Kailath

---

caption = Thomas Kailath and his wife, Sarah, at the 2007 IEEE Medal of Honor ceremony
birth_date = birth date and age|1935|6|7
birth_place = Pune, India
death_date =
death_place =
residence = United States
nationality =Indian
field = Control theory
work_institution = Stanford University
alma_mater = Massachusetts Institute of Technology College of Engineering, Pune
doctoral_advisor =
awards = 2007 IEEE Medal of Honor

Thomas Kailath (born June 7, 1935 in Pune, India) is a well known electrical engineer, information theorist, Indian control engineer, entrepreneur and the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, at Stanford University. Professor Kailath has authored several books, including the well-known book "Linear Systems", which ranks as one of the most referenced books in the field of linear systems.

Biography

Kailath was born in 1935 to a Malayalam speaking family. His parents both hailed from Kerala. He received his engineering bachelor's degree from the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP), affiliated to University of Pune in 1956. He received his master's degree in 1959 and his doctorate degree in 1961, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Citation|last=Perry|first=Tekla S.|date=May|year=2007|title=Medal of Honor: Thomas Kailath|periodical=IEEE Spectrum|volume=44|number=5|pages=44-47|url=http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may07/5043] . He was the first Indian-born student to receive a doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT.

Kailath is Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, at Stanford University. Here he has supervised about 80 Ph.D. theses.

Kailath has been an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow since 1970. He is also a member of the United States National Academy of Engineering, the United States National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Indian National Academy of Engineering and the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame [cite web|url=http://www.ieee.org/portal/pages/about/awards/bios/2007_Bios/2007moh-Kailath.html|title=Thomas Kailath|accessdate=2007-05-23|publisher=IEEE] .

Kailath was awarded the 2007 IEEE Medal of Honor for "exceptional development of powerful algorithms in the fields of communications, computing, control and signal processing." [cite web|url=http://www.ieee.org/portal/pages/about/awards/pr/mohpr.html|title=IEEE Medal of Honor Recipients|accessdate=2007-05-23|publisher=IEEE]

Kailath received praise from Dr. Patrick Dewilde, the Director of Delft Institute of Microelectronics and Submicron Technology at Delft University in the Netherlands. Dr. Dewilde attributed some of Professor Kailath's ingenuity to the influences of his Dravidian and Christian backgrounds [http://www.stanford.edu/~tkailath/pdf/dewilde.pdf] .Kailath has been married to Sarah Kailath since 1962. They have four children: Ann (married to Prof. George Verghese of MIT), Paul, Priya and Ryan [http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=022406074350] [http://www.stanford.edu/~tkailath/FAssisiHoF.htm] .

Publications

* 1979, "Linear Systems (Prentice-Hall Information and System Science Series)" (1979, Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0135369616)
* 1987, "Indefinite-Quadratic Estimation and Control: A Unified Approach to H2 and H-infinity Theories (Studies in Applied and Numerical Mathematics)" with Ali H. Sayed & Babak Hassibi (1987, Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics, ISBN 978-0898714111)
* 1997, "Discrete Neural Computation: A Theoretical Foundation" with Kai-Yeung Siu & Vwani Roychowdhury (1997, Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0133007084)
* 2000, "Linear Estimation" with Ali H. Sayed & Babak Hassibi (2000, Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0130224644)

References

External links

* [http://www.stanford.edu/~tkailath/ Kailath' Stanford website]
* [http://isl.stanford.edu/kailathlecture/bios/kailath.html Stanford biography]
* [http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/may07/5043 IEEE Spectrum article]
* [http://www.ieee.org/portal/pages/about/awards/bios/2007_Bios/2007moh-Kailath.html IEEE 2007 Medal of Honor: Thomas Kailath]
* [http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/oral_history/abstracts/kailathab.html IEEE History Center: Thomas Kailath Abstract]
* [http://ias.berkeley.edu/southasia/kailath.html Sarah Kailath Chair in India Studies]
* [http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=022406074350 Indolink piece on Dr. Kailath, mentions malayalam script on his house]