Samuel H. Fuller funds early-career professorship

Computing giant Samuel H. Fuller (BS EE ‘68) returned to the University of Michigan to deliver an alumni lecture to the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) community and celebrate his establishment of a new award. He created the Samuel H. Fuller Early Career Professorship to support rising stars in the ECE faculty, especially those who share his research passion for interconnecting the physical and digital worlds. Associate Professor Hun-Seok Kim is the first recipient of the award.

“I’m really delighted to establish this early career professorship, to provide some unrestricted support to junior faculty members and give them the freedom to innovate and work on research that might change society for the better,” said Fuller. “I’m looking forward to watching the success of Hun-Seok Kim and all who might follow him in subsequent years.”

Fuller is currently the chief technology officer emeritus and senior vice president of research and development at Analog Devices Inc., where he works on developing the next generation of integrated circuits, computing architectures, and novel sensors. In his alumni lecture, “Positioning to Catch the 4th Wave of Computing and the 2nd Wave of AI,” he spoke about the historical trajectory of computing and what is needed to improve performance to support tomorrow’s AI applications.

As an undergraduate on campus in the 60s, Fuller worked on the mainframe that supported U-M computing functions. “Even then, I realized computing had a lot of potential to go forward,” he recalled. 

Post-graduation, Fuller earned his PhD from Stanford University and became an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University in 1972. In 1978, he joined Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), where he ultimately became the company’s vice president of research. Some of the groundbreaking projects he helped develop at DEC include: RISC computer architecture, ubiquitous in today’s embedded and mobile devices; commercialized Ethernet; AltaVista, one of the first search engines; and the Kerberos authentication system currently used for U-M logins. Fuller spent the last 26 years of his distinguished career at Analog Devices Inc., developing strategies to connect the physical world to the digital world, working on cybersecurity solutions, and advancing sensor systems.

Fuller was honored with the Michigan Engineering Alumni Award in 2018, the highest accolade of the Michigan Engineering Alumni Board. He is also a senior fellow of IEEE, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Establishing the Samuel H. Fuller Early Career Professorship is Fuller’s contribution to the next generation of researchers working on the coming waves of AI and computing. Dean Karen A. Thole and many members of the ECE community came to honor both Fuller and Kim for their accomplishments at a departmental reception.

“Early career fellowships are special. They come at a really critical time in a professor’s career and honor our upcoming stars as they go through their academic careers,” said Thole, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering. “I hope this helps support you and expresses our sentiment that we want you to succeed as a long-term faculty member at Michigan Engineering.”

Kim accepted the award and presented a lecture on his work on low power and energy efficient AI systems. “When I heard the news, it immediately triggered my imposter syndrome—do I really deserve the name of Sam Fuller in my title?” Kim recalled, prompting quiet laughs from the audience in recognition of his modesty. “But I can relax a little bit knowing that the award says ‘early career development,’ because this recognition is for my possibility, for my future. I’ll certainly work hard and do my best to live up to the name of Sam Fuller.”

“Having the name ‘Sam Fuller,’ a pioneer in computing, associated with our division is a real honor,” added Interim Chair Jeff Fessler. “Everyone who receives this award will be outstanding, but for someone to receive an award for the first time is something that is a bit extra special—and Hun-Seok Kim is, indeed, extra special.”