February 21, 2020
University Professor Emeritus Murray Wonham of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) has been recognized with the Giorgio Quazza medal by the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). This award is conferred every three years to recognize outstanding lifetime contributions to conceptual foundations in the field of systems and control.
Professor Wonham’s early research focussed on stochastic control and filtering, linear geometric multivariable control, and later on discrete-event systems. He wrote a seminal textbook on linear multivariable control and — with his then-PhD student, the late Professor Bruce Francis — developed the Internal Model Principal, one of the most impactful theories of linear control. Professor Wonham is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Brouwer Medallist of the Netherlands Mathematical Society. He was appointed University Professor in 1996 and University Professor Emeritus in 2000 by the University of Toronto.
The Giorgio Quazza medal will be presented to Professor Wonham at the 21st IFAC World Congress in Berlin, Germany in July 2020. “This is one of the leading awards in the field of control,” says Wonham. “It’s unique in that it recognizes contributions to the fundamental, conceptual ideas of the control discipline — which is important to me because I hope that students will be encouraged to think about the fundamental ideas of the field in addition to working out the applications.”
Professor Wonham is one of 14 control theorists who have received the award since it was established by the IFAC in 1979. University Professor Emeritus Edward J. Davison (ECE) was conferred the award in 1993.
“Professor Wonham has had a profound impact on the field of systems and control, through his publications and research but also through his students — many of whom have gone on to be leaders in the field themselves,” says Professor Deepa Kundur, Chair of ECE. “He is most deserving of this prestigious award that recognizes his decades of contributions to the field of systems control.”
More information:
Jessica MacInnis
External Relations Manager
The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
416-978-7997; jessica.macinnis@utoronto.ca