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Prof. Yale Patt Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions bestowed upon an engineer.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced today that Yale Patt, professor and Ernest Cockrell, Jr. Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, is one of four professors from the Cockrell School of Engineering to be elected to the prestigious academy this year. Prof. Patt was elected "for contributions to high-performance microprocessor architecture."

The academy also elected Thomas F. Edgar, director of the Energy Institute and professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering; Gregory L. Fenves, executive vice president and provost of The University of Texas at Austin; and Bob E. Schutz, professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics.

They are four of 67 new members and 11 foreign associates to join the academy in 2014. UT Austin reported the highest number of new members elected to the academy this year among universities across the United States.

“Provost Fenves and Professors Edgar, Patt and Schutz are exactly the type of UT Austin faculty who change the world every day,” said Bill Powers, the university’s president. “Their research and their distinguished careers as teachers have shaped generations of engineering students and enhanced our understanding of the world.”

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions bestowed upon an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice or education.

“We are extremely proud to have four faculty members elected to the NAE,” said Sharon L. Wood, interim dean of the Cockrell School and an NAE member. “This is further confirmation that the Cockrell School is at the forefront of engineering research and education.”

Patt joined the Cockrell School faculty in 1999. He has received many international awards for his research and teaching, including the prestigious Eckert-Mauchly Award in computer architecture from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society. Among his many teaching commendations are the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award, the university’s Texas Excellence Teaching Award and membership in the university’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers.