Cressler Appointed as Regents Professor

John D. Cressler has been promoted to the rank of Regents Professor; his nomination to this rank was approved by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents on August 10. He is a faculty member in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).

Cressler has been a prolific researcher and educator in the development of novel micro/nanoelectronic and photonic devices, circuits, and systems using nanoscale silicon-germanium (SiGe) alloys. He and his team apply these technologies to next-generation communications systems, ground and space-based radar and remote sensing systems, quantum science, and planetary exploration missions.

A proud Georgia Tech alumnus, Cressler graduated with his B.S. degree in physics in 1984. He spent eight-and-a-half years at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, received his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1990, and then worked for 10 years on the ECE faculty at Auburn University. Cressler joined Georgia Tech in 2002 as a professor in ECE, and from 2004-2013, he held the title of Ken Byers Professor. He was appointed as the Schlumberger Chair Professor in Electronics in 2013 and as a Ken Byers Teaching Fellow in Science and Religion in 2017.

Cressler and his students have produced over 750 refereed journal and conference papers. He has written three textbooks, edited three others, and written 31 book chapters. He is also a part-time novelist and has published three historical novels set in medieval Muslim Spain, with a fourth nearing completion.

During his career at Georgia Tech, Cressler has received over 100 research grants and contracts, totaling more than $30 million. He has graduated 62 Ph.D. students during his career, 53 of whom received their degrees from Georgia Tech. Cressler also serves as the associate director of the Georgia Electronic Design Center, a position that he has held since 2015. Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards for his research accomplishments, including being named an IEEE Fellow and an IEEE Third Millennium Medal recipient.

Cressler is highly dedicated to his classroom teaching and student mentoring. He is a mainstay in the microelectronics instructional program in ECE for both the undergraduate and graduate students. His book, Silicon-Germanium Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors, is the most widely referenced book in this area and is used as a textbook for graduate classes at a number of universities.

Cressler also teaches two highly popular courses that are open to all Georgia Tech undergraduate students. CoE 3002 —Introduction to the Microelectronics and Nanotechnology Revolution serves both the Technology and Management Program and the Honors Program, while IAC 2002—Science, Engineering, and Religion: An Interfaith Dialogue serves the Georgia Tech-Emory Leadership and Multifaith Program Partnership.

Cressler has received numerous local, national, and international teaching and mentoring honors throughout his career. Earlier this year, he received the 2021 IEEE James H. Mulligan Education Medal “for inspirational teaching and mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students.” In 2020, Cressler received the Outstanding Educator Award from the IEEE Atlanta Section, and in 2013, he received Georgia Tech’s highest award for faculty, the Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor Award.

Cressler has been an active member and leader in his professional communities and at Georgia Tech. He has held leadership roles in four different IEEE societies, including as editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices. Cressler led an Institute-level task force on the Georgia Tech Honors Program that helped to strengthen the program’s mission and better serve students’ needs. Currently, he serves on a Georgia Tech committee focused on supporting mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention efforts on campuses throughout the University System of Georgia.

“John is exceptionally deserving of being named as a Regents Professor, and I am very happy that the University System Board of Regents and the Georgia Tech administration have chosen John to hold this title,” said Douglas M. Blough, the Interim Steve W. Chaddick School Chair for ECE. “He is an outstanding research scholar and teacher, an inspirational mentor to his students, and a dedicated member of his professional and campus communities. He has our heartfelt thanks for all that he has done for ECE and Georgia Tech, and we are fortunate to have him as a colleague and friend.”