Dennis Sylvester named Peter and Evelyn Fuss Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Michigan

Dennis Sylvester, pioneer in ultra-lower-power integrated circuit (IC) design, successful entrepreneur, distinguished educator, and experienced leader, has been named Peter and Evelyn Fuss Chair of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Michigan, effective July 1, 2025. Sylvester is also the Edward S. Davidson Collegiate Professor of ECE.

“Dennis’ background as an innovative entrepreneur, accomplished educator, and collaborative leader will serve the ECE community and the College well when he leads the ECE Division as Chair,” said Karen A. Thole, Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering. “I look forward to working with him in this new capacity.”

Sylvester is an internationally recognized leader in the area of ultra-low power IC design. His collaborative breakthrough technology resulted in the development of the world’s smallest computer, called the Michigan Micro Mote (M3). This technology has already led to several startup companies, including two that Sylvester co-founded: Ambiq and Cubeworks, and another founded by his former student. He holds 53 U.S. patents. Several of his patented innovations have been licensed by ARM Ltd, a global semiconductor and software design company which has shipped more than 50M units based on his research.

For his accomplishments as an innovator, he has received the U-M Distinguished Innovator Award, CoE Innovation Excellence Award, Semiconductor Research Corporation Inventor Recognition Award, and he is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.

Sylvester is an accomplished leader, having served as Interim Chair of ECE prior to his recent sabbatical. He previously served as Senior Associate Chair under former ECE Chair Mingyan Liu, and he founded the Michigan Integrated Circuits Laboratory (MICL). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, and was elected to serve on the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Administration Committee. 

“Dennis’s expertise and experience will serve the community well and take ECE to new heights,” said Liu, who is now the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for the College of Engineering. “I look forward to hearing many exciting things from ECE in the coming months and years!”

A distinguished educator, Sylvester has taught five different courses in the areas of digital integrated circuits and VLSI Design, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. He developed two of those courses, and co-authored the book Statistical Analysis and Optimization for VLSI: Timing and Power. Awards that acknowledge his teaching excellence include the College of Engineering (CoE) Education Excellence Award, 1938E Award, the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award, and the U-M Henry Russel Award. He has also served as an IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society Distinguished Lecturer.

Sylvester is known to be a consummate team player. In addition to his work with long-time collaborator David Blaauw, which led to the Michigan Micro Mote, he was a member of three unique teams that earned the College of Engineering Ted Kennedy Family Team Excellence Award. He looks forward to bringing this spirit of collaboration to his role as Chair.

“I’m very excited to dive into this new role,” said Sylvester. “ECE is experiencing a surge in interest from students at all levels, providing added momentum to an already very active and innovative group of faculty, staff, and students.  My door will be open to the entire ECE community and I welcome your input and ideas to continually evolve and improve ECE.”

He has been recognized by the ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference and the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) for being a prolific and collaborative author. Sixteen of his 575+ publications have received best paper nominations or awards. He received an NSF CAREER Award, a SIGDA Outstanding New Faculty Award, and he is an IEEE Fellow.

Sylvester received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, where his dissertation was recognized with the David. J. Sakrison Memorial Prize. He spent a year at Synopsys, Inc. before joining the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Michigan in 2000.

Sylvester’s appointment concludes a national search.