A Spartan Engineer from Michigan State University has been elected to a leadership role in directing the Technical Activities (TA) unit for the world's largest technical professional society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
John Verboncoeur was elected vice president-elect of IEEE TA, which is responsible for about $500 million in revenue and the overseeing of 46 societies and councils representing distinct technical areas. More than 200 paid employees and 100,000 volunteers support technical activities for IEEE.
Verboncoeur, who is an IEEE Fellow, is the College of Engineering Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, and he is a professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering at MSU.
"I'm honored to have been elected vice president-elect, which precedes becoming the vice president of IEEE TA," Verboncoeur explained. "IEEE has over 400,000 members in 160 countries, who are dedicated to advancing technology for humanity. IEEE also has more than 200 periodicals and runs over 2,000 conferences per year," he added.
Election results are contingent upon approval by the IEEE Board of Directors at the organization's November board meeting.
In 2020, Verboncoeur served as the acting vice president of IEEE Publications, Services, and Products, managing the publication portfolio and over 130 paid employees, about 1,000 volunteer editors, and $270 million in revenue.
He noted the IEEE technical library is the largest on the planet, with more than five million documents, and more than 15 million downloads per month.
Verboncoeur was a director of IEEE 2018-2019, and president of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science Society 2015-2016.