Edward J. McCluskey

Edward J. McCluskey
Born	16 October 1929 New York City, NY
Alma mater	MIT
Known for	Quine-McCluskey algorithm
Scientific career
Fields	Electrical engineering
Thesis	Algebraic Minimization and the Design of Two-Terminal Contact Networks  (1956)
Doctoral advisor	Samuel H. Caldwell
Notable students	John Brzozowski

Edward J. McCluskey (born 16 October 1929 in New York City, NY) is a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. He is a pioneer in the field of Electrical Engineering.

Biography

Professor McCluskey worked on electronic switching systems at the Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1955 to 1959. In 1959, he moved to Princeton University, where he was Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the University Computer Center. In 1966, he joined Stanford University, where he is currently Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as Director of the Center for Reliable Computing. He founded the Stanford Digital Systems Laboratory (now the Computer Systems Laboratory) in 1969 and the Stanford Computer Engineering Program (now the Computer Science MS Degree Program) in 1970. The Stanford Computer Forum (an Industrial Affiliates Program) was started by Dr. McCluskey and two colleagues in 1970 and he was its Director until 1978. Professor McCluskey leads the Reliability and Testing Symposium (RATS). He has mentored over 70 PhD students and has an expanding family of academic 'grandchildren'. He also has a hat collection. Dr. McCluskey served as the first President of the IEEE Computer Society.

Focus of research

Professor McCluskey developed the first algorithm for designing combinational circuits - the Quine-McCluskey logic minimization procedure as a doctoral student at MIT. His thesis, supervised by Samuel H. Caldwell was entitled Algebraic Minimization and the Design of Two-Terminal Contact Networks (1956). At Bell Labs and Princeton, he developed the modern theory of transients (hazards) in logic networks and formulated the concept of operating modes of sequential circuits. His Stanford research focuses on logic testing, synthesis, design for testability, and fault-tolerant computing. Professor McCluskey and his students at the Center for Reliable Computing worked out many key ideas for fault equivalence, probabilistic modeling of logic networks, pseudo-exhaustive testing, and watchdog processors. He collaborated with Signetics researchers in developing one of the first practical multivalued logic implementations and then worked out a design technique for such circuitry.

Awards and honors

Professor McCluskey is the recipient of the 1996 IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award "for pioneering and fundamental contributions to design automation and fault tolerant computing."

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM); and an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) (1998).

He received honorary doctorates from the University of Grenoble and the Bowdoin College.

References

Further reading

• McCluskey's page at Stanford. Photograph Courtesy of Professor Edward J. McCluskley. All Right Reserved.
• CV
• Biography of McCluskey