James H. Mulligan, Jr., Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and former Dean of the School of Engineering from 1974-1977, died on January 12, 1996.
Jim Mulligan was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on October 29, 1920. He received B.E.E. 1943 and E.E. 1947 degrees from Cooper Union School of Engineering, an M.S. degree in 1945 from Stevens Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1948 from Columbia University. Before joining New York University, he was employed in the transmission development department of the Bell Telephone Laboratories and later became a member of the Combined Research Group of the Naval Research Laboratory. At the conclusion of World War II, he joined the Allen B. DuMont Laboratories where he was initially concerned with research and development work on portable and studio television pickup and video equipment and subsequently chief engineer of the television transmitter division. From 1949 through 1968, he was a faculty member of the Department of Electrical Engineering at New York University and served as Chairman from 1952 through 1968. Then, he moved to Washington, D.C. when he assumed the position of Secretary and later became the Executive Officer of the National Academy of Engineering during the following six years.
In 1974, Jim came to the University of California, Irvine as the second Dean of the School of Engineering. An expert in circuit theory, he designed and implemented courses in VLSI and was responsible for the curriculum in this area. Inside the classroom, he was a tough and thorough taskmaster demanding high performance and exacting perfection from his students. He also expected professional assistance and immediate response from the staff. He was serious and formal with regard to his academic and professional activities. He loved people and he enjoyed entertaining them in his home or taking them to restaurants. He had a large blue automobile which aged rapidly into an unsightly "blue bomb," the paint faded and peeling with many parking lot door dings. He "tested the mettle" of his students and staff by driving up to an exclusive restaurant and requesting valet parking!
After his retirement in 1991, he continued to be active in research and, most recently, contributed heavily to the year long preparations of his department and school for the October 1995 ABET Review. In the School of Engineering, he will be remembered for demanding from colleagues and students the highest standards of excellence in teaching, research, and service, his contributions for developing curriculum that is innovative in teaching basic theory by incorporating cutting-edge applications, and most of all for his inspirational teaching and sage counsel of all who interacted with him. He was truly dedicated to education and scholarship at all levels.
During his career, he was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and was elected Fellow of the IEEE, IEE (London), and AAAS. He served on the Executive Board of the National Academy of Engineering and as President of the IEEE. He was the recipient of many prestigious awards: 1974 IEEE Haraden Pratt Award, 1978 Professional Achievement Award of the IEEE United States Activities Board, 1984 UCI Lauds and Laurels Award for Professional Achievement, 1986 Distinguished Service Award of the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society, 1986 Meritorious Service Award of the IEEE Education Society, 1987 Linton E. Grinter Distinguished Service Award of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, 1988 ABET Fellow Award of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, 1988 Benjamin Garver Lamme Award of the American Society for Engineering Education as well as receiving prize paper awards from the AIEE and IEEE and teaching awards as an outstanding professor from various local and national organizations.
He married in 1947 and is survived by his wife, Jeanne, sons James (Hank) and Richard, daughter-in-law, Anne, and granddaughter, Jessica.
Allen R. Stubberud