OU's Venkatesan Turns the Page: Honored by 4 Noted Organizations

Over the years, Thirumalai “Venky” Venkatesan, a University of Oklahoma professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received many prestigious honors and awards for his achievements in advanced technology innovation. 

This year, Venkatesan has received four such honors. 

On June 24, Venkatesan traveled to London for an invocation ceremony where he was inducted as a Royal Society Fellow. The distinguished group comprises 1,700 Fellows and Foreign Members, including 85 Nobel Laureates who were all selected for exceptional contributions to science. Venkatesan joins the ranks of Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Dorothy Hodgkin. 

"The ceremony was a 1 1/2-day event and will forever remain in my memory as very special," Venkatesan said. "I signed the same book as Michael Faraday and Isaac Newton, two of my heroes!" he added. Top photo, Venkatesan with the Royal Society's charter book that was created in 1663. Venkatesan recently added his signature to the historic book.

Also in June, he was inducted as a National Academy of Inventors’ Fellow at the organization’s annual meeting held in Phoenix. Venkatesan, a scientific affiliate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, has filed over 45 patents and has over 800 publications. Photo, from left, Paul Sandberg, National Academy of Inventors' president, Venkatesan and Elizabeth Lea Dougherty, Eastern Regional Outreach Director for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Later this year, Venkatesan will participate in a conferment ceremony for his election as a Fellow of the Singapore National Academy of Science. Fellows and Foreign Fellows of the academy are scientists who have worked in Singapore for at least five years. In 2021, Venkatesan joined OU from the National University of Singapore, where he served as the director of the Nano Institute and was a Provost Chair Professor of electrical and computer engineering, physics and material science.

Venkatesan also received the Outstanding Alumnus Award during a recent Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur Alumni event in Washington, D.C. 

Venkatesan is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a fellow of the Materials Research Society, a recipient of the Bellcore Award of Excellence, a winner of the George E. Pake Prize and a recipient of the Distinguished Lectureship on Applications of Physics awarded by the American Physical Society. 

Venkatesan, who started his research career at Bell Labs, earned a doctorate in quantum electronics at The City University of New York (CUNY), a master’s degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur. He has won the distinguished alumnus award from both technology institutes.

In 2021, Venkatesan joined OU as the inaugural director of the Center for Quantum Research and Technology that is housed in Lin Hall on the Norman campus. He holds positions as a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the Gallogly College of Engineering and a professor of physics and astronomy in the Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy.

By Lorene A. Roberson, OU Gallogly College of Engineering