Electrical and Computer Engineering

Colorado State University

College of Engineering

Hall of Fame

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Meet some of our most successful alumni!

1950s -- Rex Sjostrom
1960s -- Bill Parzybok
1970s -- Joseph Perl
1970s -- Thomas W. Williams
1980s -- Andy Denenberg
1980's - Mary Peery

1950s Rex Sjostrom
	"My studies at Aggies in the late 40's and early 50's, along with some fine mentoring by some of the best professors in the country, gave me a running start in 1956 on an aerospace career with the Glenn L. Martin Company."
Education
B.S. Civil Engineering – CSU, 1952 M.E. Electrical Engineering – CSU, 1956
Career Highlights:
Held a number of engineering staff and management positions during his 36-year career with Martin Marietta, culminating in the position of Vice President for Special Programs Designed the ground instrumentation for Titan I and II, the first in a series of heavy payload launch vehicles Designed telecommunications for the OV4-3 satellite, the first satellite to be built and launched by Denver Aerospace. Designed and managed the telemetry, total electronics, and control of surface operations for the Viking Mars Lander, the first spacecraft to operate on the surface of Mars. Retired Colonel in the Colorado National Guard and the Army Reserve. President and member of the College of Engineering Dean's Advisory Council Member of both CSU's Frontier Society and the President's Society. Lifetime member of the CSU Alumni Association Recipient of the NASA Public Service Award for contributions to the Viking Mars exploration program Received two Martin Marietta Jefferson Cups (the Corporation's highest award) Awarded Army Commendation Medal and Meritorious Service Medal for his contributions to the National Guard and the Army Reserve. Recipient of the College of Engineering's Distinguished Service Award. He is recognized in “Who's Who in the West.” 2004 College of Engineering Honor Alumnus
Hobbies
Traveling, military history, golfing, and beekeeping
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1960s William (Bill) Parzybok
	"Pursuing my dream to study electrical engineering was fostered by dedicated and stimulating faculty at Colorado State. Many of the faculty certainly captured my imagination. Then, as now, the field of EE was filled with much excitement and potential. The education I received at CSU has served me well and I treasure those years."
Education
M.S. Business Management - CSU, 1968 B.S. Electrical Engineering - CSU, 1966
Career Highlights:
Former Chairman of the Board and CEO of Fluke Corporation, an electronic test tools company, from 1991-1998; Fluke merged with Danaher Corporation in July 1998 During Bill's tenure as CEO of Fluke, the corporation's market capitalization increased by $560M to $678M, its stock went from $8.56 to $37.00 per share, and its revenues increased almost 200% to $438M' Named "CEO of the Year" in his industry by Financial World Magazine in March 1995. Held a number of senior management positions during his 22-year career with Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), culminating in the position of Vice President Member of the Board of Directors of WRQ, Inc. (a software company) Member of the Board of Directors of SonoSite (a medical ultrasound company) Serves on the College of Engineering Visiting Committee of the University of Washington Serves on the Board of Trustees of the Overlake School of Redmond, Washington Served on the Board of Directors of Penford Corporation Served on the Board of the Pacific Science Center
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1970s Joseph Perl
	"Having completed my B.Sc. at the Technion in Israel, I came to CSU for graduate work. The ECE faculty members and my fellow graduate students taught me one important lesson that I cherish for life: "You can't keep a good man down. By working hard, one succeeds."
Education
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering - CSU, 1976 M.S. Electrical Engineering - CSU, 1974 B.Sc. Electrical Engineering - Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 1972
Career Highlights:
President and CEO and Board Member of Mobilygen Former President and CEO of DSP Communications [NYSE: DSP] Served as Chief Scientist for the Communications Division of Tadiran Electronics Co. in Israel. Adjunct Professor at Tel Aviv University in Israel Visiting Professor at Florida State University Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Recipient of the Rothschild Innovation Award in 1997 Member of the CSU College of Engineering Dean's Advisory Board Member of IEEE since 1974 Member of New York Academy of Sciences since 1993
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1970s Thomas W. Williams
	"I truly enjoyed my experience as an electrical engineering student at Colorado State University, a school that is large enough to attract and retain first-rate faculty, yet small enough to provide the individual attention that really makes a difference in the learning process. I feel really fortunate to have had this opportunity at Colorado State University.”
Education
B.S. Electrical Engineering – Clarkson University M.A. Pure Mathematics – State University of New York at Binghamton Ph.D. Electrical Engineering – CSU, 1971
Career Highlights:
Named Synopsys Fellow, a rare distinction for expertise, innovation, and influence on the company’s technical direction Contributed to an impressive array of patented technologies and methodologies for Synopsys Managed the VLSI Design for Testability Group for IBM’s Microelectronics Division in Boulder Served as founder, chair, and distinguished speaker for a number of IEEE Computer Society events and technical committees Received numerous best paper awards from the IEEE and ACM Founder and co-founder of a number of workshops and conferences dealing with testing Wrote four book chapters and over 100 technical papers on testing; edited a book; and co-authored a book entitled Structured Logic Testing Named IEEE Fellow in 1988 for leadership and contributions in DFT Co-awarded the IEEE Computer Society’s Prestigious W. Wallace McDowell Award in 1989 for outstanding contributions to the Computer Arts Served on the Computer Society Board of Governors and the IEEE Board of Directors Member of Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Bata Pi, IEEE, ACM, Sigma Xi, and Phi Kappa Phi Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder Guest Professor and Robert Bosch Fellow at the Unversitaet of Hannover (Hannover, Germany) in 1985 and 1997 Recipient of CSU's College of Engineering Distinguished Service Award for exceptional leadership and dedication to the field of engineering Delivered commencement speech at CSU’s College of Engineering graduation ceremony
Other Achievements:
Member of Cross Country Ski Team in Norway and Sweden Served as a guide for a totally blind cross country skier on the US Disabled Ski Team Eastern United States Figure Skating Champion
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1980s Andy Denenberg
	"My Electrical Engineering degree from CSU prepared me for the many challenges and opportunities I have encountered during my career. Having the opportunity to work as an intern and then graduate college with a position at a world-class company such as Hewlett-Packard without having to leave Fort Collins was fantastic. Ultimately, I did leave beautiful Colorado, but I still feel very connected to it as the basis for my subsequent career in electrical engineering originated at CSU.”
Education
B.S. Electrical Engineering - CSU, 1981 Post graduate studies in Digital Signal Processing at the Illinois Institute of Technology
Career Highlights:
Founder and managing partner of Denmac Systems, Inc., a leading network integration consulting firm. Denmac Systems, Inc. designs, builds, optimizes, and secures network infrastructures for Fortune 1000 companies. 2004 marks the 16th successful year of revenue and income growth for Denmac Systems. Under Denenberg’s leadership, Denmac Systems created multiple products and technologies which were spun-off and licensed to third parties or run as separate businesses: Upright Software, a developer of web-based application software that streamlines the business cycle of Professional Service Organizations. Upright grew to serve thousands of users in multiple countries before being sold to Outtask Inc. in 2001. Geneva Software, a network management software company which grew to a $10 million software company and developed two award winning products, Trendata and Alertpage, and was a pioneer in the Service Level Management arena. PLATINUM Technology Inc. acquired Geneva Software in 1998. As a result of the PLATINUM’s acquisition of Geneva, Denenberg served as Vice President responsible for PLATINUM's Network Management Lab until returning to Denmac 1999. Denmac developed a proprietary suite of protocol analysis technology that automated the process of troubleshooting Client-Server based computing architectures. Network Communications Corporation exclusively licensed the technology in 1992 for use in their line of network probes. Served as a senior engineer at US Robotics and was responsible for data modulation hardware design. Denenberg is credited with developing ASICs for US Robotics that greatly improved the cost and performance of the company’s high-speed modems. Served internship at Hewlett Packard’s Instrument Division (now Agilent), leading to a full-time position upon graduation from CSU. Member of the Advisory Board for KB Partners, a Chicago-based venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage technology companies.
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1980s Mary Peery
	"My time in the Electrical Engineering program at CSU during the 70's and early 80's was clearly the foundation for all the opportunities I've been given in my career at Hewlett Packard. I had some truly outstanding professors at CSU and those years helped me understand the need for a strong work ethic, an in-depth understanding of leading edge technology, and always setting the bar high for myself. I'm very grateful for the education I received at CSU and have genuinely valued my continued involvement with the College of Engineering over the years."
Education
B.S. Electrical Engineering – Colorado State University, 1984 Continuing studies in electrical engineering as well as business management and leadership
Career Highlights:
Currently serves as senior vice president of Strategic Change Management for Hewlett-Packard Company’s Imaging and Printing Group Previously was Senior Vice President leading two key growth areas for Hewlett Packard; Digital Imaging (including HP’s move into the consumer market in this space) and Digital Publishing (including high end commercial printing solutions) Held numerous other senior-level positions throughout her career with Hewlett-Packard in divisions that focus on mass storage, scanning, printing and other leading-edge technologies Held numerous leadership roles over the years to help HP become a recognized leader in the area of diversity in both practice and policy Recipient of the CSU 2006 Distinguished Alumni Provost Award Recipient of the CSU 2005 College of Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award Actively involved with CSU campus initiatives, including the Women and Minorities in Engineering Program (WMEP), the University’s diversity forums, and guest speaker to Senior Classes Received Lifetime Contribution Award at the CSU Women in Technology Conference
Other Achievements
Member of the Larimer County Hospice Board of Directors Loves being involved in the lives and activities of her six children and 16 grandchildren
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Last updated: 07/30/07