RICHARD B BROWN, H. E. Thomas Presidential Endowed Dean portrait
  • Professor, Elect & Computer Engineering
  • Professor, School Of Computing
  • Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Engineering
  • H. E. Thomas Presidential Endowed Dean, John and Marcia Price College of Engineering, College Of Engineering-Dean
801-581-6912

Education

  • Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, University of Utah. Project: Multiple-Sensor Chemical Transducer
  • M.S., Electrical Engineering, Brigham Young University. Project: Logic State and Timing Analyzer
  • B.S., Cum Laude, Highest Honors, Electrical Engineering, Brigham Young University

Research Summary

Chemical Sensors; Neural Interfaces; Electronic Circuit Clocking; Circuit Design; High Performance Microprocessors; Mixed Signal Microprocessors; Biomedical Implants.

Biography

Richard B. Brown received his bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from Brigham Young University.   Following graduation, he designed computers and instrumentation in California and Missouri.  He returned to school at the University of Utah in 1981 and received an electrical engineering Ph.D. in 1985, at which time he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) where he developed their highly respected integrated circuit design (VLSI) program.

Prof. Brown has conducted major research projects in the development of sensors (for ions, heavy metals and neurochemicals) and microprocessors (high-performance, low-power, and mixed-signal).  He holds 17 patents and has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed publications. He was the Micropower Electronics task leader in the University of Michigan’s NSF Wireless Integrated Microsystems Engineering Research Center. He has won a variety of teaching and research awards.

At the University of Michigan, Prof. Brown served as Associate Chair for the Electrical Engineering Division of EECS for four years and then as Interim Chair of EECS.  He has served on NSF, ASME and DARPA advisory committees for emerging technologies and VLSI education, and on two national advisory committees at other universities. He has been supportive of entrepreneurial activities and personally involved in technology transfer as a founder of Sensicore, i-sens, and Mobius Microsystems.

In July 2004, Prof. Brown was appointed the eleventh Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Utah.  He holds appointments in the School of Computing, the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Department of Bioengineering as well as an appointment at the University of Michigan Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department.

Other Profile Data

October 27, 2020 Installed as the inaugural chairholder of the H.E Thomas Presidential Endowed Dean’s Chair