The Lecture Series
On the occasion of Prof. Thomas Kailath's 70th Birthday, a group of his former students and associates joined to honor his influence and contributions by endowing a fund that will support an annual lecture at Stanford University in mathematical engineering as well as colloquia, workshops and other research-enhancing activities.
Tuesday, November 11th, 2025, 1:30pm - 5:00pm
MacKenzie Conference Room,
Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Building, Room 300
Stanford University
475 Via Ortega 3rd Floor, Stanford, CA 94305
A Celebration of IEEE's Medal of Honor Awardees and
Prof. Thomas Kailath's 90th Life Anniversary
Prof. John Cioffi: Host and Lecture's Committee Chair, Faculty Emeritus, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
The 2025 Kailath Lecture Keynote Speaker
John L. Hennessy
President Emeritus, Stanford. Shriram Faculty Director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, James F. and Mary Lynn Gibbons Professor and Professor of Electrical Engineering and of Computer Science.
Prof. Hennessy received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2012.
"For pioneering the RISC processor architecture and for leadership in computer engineering and higher education."
Additional Speakers
Professor Robert Gallager
Professor Emeritus, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Prof. Gallager received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1990.
"For fundamental contributions to communications coding techniques."
Professor Thomas Kailath
Faculty Emeritus, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
Prof. Kailath was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2007.
"For exceptional development of powerful algorithms in the fields of communications, computing, control and signal processing."
Dr. Andy Viterbi
Co-Founder of Qualcomm
Dr. Viterbi received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2010.
"For seminal contributions to communications technology and theory."
Dr. Irwin Jacobs
Co-Founder of Qualcomm
Dr. Irwin Jacobs received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2013.
"For leadership and fundamental contributions to digital communications and wireless technology."
Dr. David Forney
Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Dr. Forney was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2016.
"For pioneering contributions to the theory of error-correcting codes and the development of reliable high-speed data communications."
Professor Brad Parkinson
Professor Emeritus, Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University
Prof. Parkinson received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2018.
"For fundamental contributions to and leadership in developing the design and driving the early applications of the Global Positioning System."
Dr. Vinton G. Cerf
VP, Chief Internet Evangelist, Google
Dr. Cerf received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2023.
"For co-creating the Internet architecture and providing sustained leadership in its phenomenal growth in becoming society's critical infrastructure."
Dr. Robert Kahn
Corporation for National Research Initiative (CNRI), Chairman, CEO and President
Dr. Kahn received the IEEE Medal of Honor in 2024
"For pioneering technical and leadership contributions in packet communication technologies and foundations of the Internet."
Professor Martin Hellman
Faculty Emeritus, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
Professor Hellman received the ACM Turing Award in 2015.
"For inventing and promulgating both asymmetric public-key cryptography, including its application to digital signatures, and a practical cryptographic key-exchange method."
Professor Amin Arbabian
Faculty, Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
Research:
"Integrated circuits and electromagnetic interfaces with a focus on design of “end-to-end” electronic systems/devices."
