People

Henry F. Taylor, Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, was born in Ft. Worth, Texas. He attended Rice University in Houston, Texas and received the B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in 1962, 1965, and 1967, respectively, all in Physics. He was employed as a Research Physicist at the Naval Ocean Systems Center (formerly the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center) in San Diego, CA from 1967 to 1978. From 1978 to 1980 he was employed by Rockwell International in Thousand Oaks, CA, where he was Principal Scientist of the Optoelectronics Department of the Microelectronics Research and Development Center. From 1980 to 1985 he was Head of the Optical Techniques Branch of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC.

He joined the Electrical Engineering faculty at Texas A&M University as a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of the Institute for Solid State Electronics in November 1985. Since 1988 he has held the Irma Runyon Chair in Electrical Engineering. During the summer of 1990, he was a Visiting Scientist at Nippon Telegraph and Telephones Opto-Electronics Laboratory in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. In 1994 he was appointed a Member of the Board of Directors of Fiber Dynamics, (formerly FFPI Industries) of Bryan, Texas. In 2001, he was promoted to the position of Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at Texas A&M University

Taylor’s principal research interests have been in the fields of fiber optics, integrated optics, and diode laser applications. He has co-authored more than 300 journal articles and conference presentations and held 40 U.S. patents. He was awarded a Civil Service Commission/Navy fellowship to study Systems Analysis at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 1971-72. He also received the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center Annual Science Achievement Award in 1974, the American Society of Naval Engineers Solberg Award for Applied Research in 1975, and the Texas A&M Association of Former Students Award For Excellence in Research in 1991. Since joining the Texas A&M faculty in 1985, he has served as Chairman of the Graduate Research Committee for 36 students receiving Ph. D. degrees and 32 students receiving M. S. degrees in Electrical Engineering. Henry F. Taylor was a Fellow of the IEEE and of OSA, a Life Member of the American Society of Naval Engineers.

Equity, fairness, and plain human decency were dear to Henry’s heart. He was a deep thinker with unwavering convictions, a formidable and respected scientist. His diligence was a key factor in his success and an inspiration to his students and colleagues. His legacy lives on.