Trailblazing Teacher
Endowed chair established to honor fred harris, engineering professor and expert in digital signal processing
“A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.” - Patricia Neal
Every student remembers at least one teacher. The teacher who inspired and motivated; the one who earned lifelong respect.
For Eric Johnson, that teacher is fred harris, Ph.D.* Johnson enrolled at San Diego State in 1984 to pursue a master’s degree in electrical engineering. Finding the specialty of communications particularly interesting, he signed up for a number of classes with harris, not imagining that the professor would eventually become both mentor and friend.
Twenty-five years later, Johnson and his wife, Peggy, also a College of Engineering alum, felt it was important to honor the world-renowned professor by establishing a lasting legacy at the university to which harris dedicated more than 40 years of service. They created the fred harris Endowed Chair in Digital Signal Processing, and their contribution will be matched by QUALCOMM Inc., where Peggy serves as an executive vice president.
An enthusiasm for teaching
From day one, it was clear to Eric Johnson that harris possessed unusual energy.
“He was incredibly enthusiastic, and his dedication to teaching was second to none,” Johnson recalled. “Topics such as information theory, coding and digital communications and digital signal processing are highly complex. But professor harris has a remarkable ability to present these subjects in an understandable way; He has a gift for making learning fun and fascinating.”
According to Johnson, harris also helped his students outside of the classroom. “He was always available to answer questions, write you a reference or make professional introductions on your behalf.”
In addition to being an exemplary teacher, harris was also a trailblazer in the field of digital signal processing (DSP). He is among the inventors of DSP technology, wherein signals such as speech, music or images are converted into a series of numbers representing the amplitude of those signals. By processing the numbers in a digital computer, the signal can be altered, thereby reducing noise and interference.
Today, harris holds a number of patents on DSP for satellite and cable modems. He has lectured throughout the world on DSP applications and has been keynote speaker at numerous international conferences, sharing his expertise on software defined radios. Among his publishing credits is one of the most widely used textbooks in the field: “Multirate Signal Processing for Communications Systems.”
For future students
The Johnsons’ gift in honor of professor harris recognizes his effectiveness as both teacher and scholar. On another level, the gift also attests to his legacy. It will encourage and enable future students to pursue careers in the communications specialty of electrical engineering by ensuring that the discipline has a dedicated faculty position (and a distinguished technician and mentor) on staff.
“During the last 40 years, DSP has become a major facilitating technology—one that has been an economic driver for local industry. In a big picture sense, fred harris’ work is profound,” said Johnson. “Peggy and I hope that other alumni will join us in recognizing his work by contributing to the endowment that bears Dr. harris’ name.”
When asked about his professional achievements as a teacher and scholar, harris is entirely unassuming. “The university is an amazing venue—and I enjoy wearing many hats. I hope I am able to touch students while they’re here and once they leave, since many are employed with companies that use DSP-related technology,” he said.
Reflecting on his career and grateful students—like Johnson—harris said: “As professors, we’re like parents. We do all we can to prepare, educate and train students to make their way in the world. When they’re successful, there’s a tremendous sense of pleasure and pride.
“Most importantly, I want future generations of engineers to understand the importance of their work. Our inventions can create wealth and benefit the welfare of our people. That’s always been my key objective.”
*Author’s note: fred harris, Ph.D., prefers that his name be spelled in lower case letters.
To contribute to the fred harris endowment, please contact Suzanne McClain at [email protected] or 619-594-2275.
