Edward K. Reedy

Edward K. Reedy (born April 22, 1940) was the director of the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) from 1998 to 2003, and correspondingly a vice president of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He first joined GTRI in 1970, and specialized in radar system development and electromagnetic scattering. Reedy held a variety of research and leadership positions within the organization, including the head of Research Operations and four years as associate director.

Early life and education Reedy was born in Johnson City, Tennessee on April 22, 1940. He attended high school at Boones Creek High School. Reedy received a Bachelor of Science in 1963, a Master of Science in 1964 and a Ph.D. in 1968 in electrical engineering, all from the University of Tennessee.

Career Reedy was in the United States Army Reserve for 21 years, which included two years (1968-1970) as a captain (Signal Corps Officer) at the Communications Electronics Command in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. Reedy steadily progressed through the ranks; from 1974 to 1975, he was the head of the Systems Technology Branch; from 1975 to 1977 he was the Chief of the Radar Application Division; and from 1977 to 1990 (13 years) he was the director of GTRI's Radar and Instrumentation Laboratory. In 1990, he became a Laboratory Group Director, where he was responsible for approximately half of the organization. From 1993 to 1997, Reedy was the associate director of GTRI and director of research operations. Reedy has been an adjunct professor for Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering since 1987. As director, Reedy was particularly influential in securing the $7.3 million in funding required to build the Food Processing Technology Building. Under his leadership, GTRI's first endowed chair was established in March 1998 in honor of Glen P. Robinson, the $1.5 million Glen P. Robinson Chair in Electro-Optics. GTRI and Georgia Tech played host to sitting president George W. Bush in March 2002, and demonstrated new technologies in a simulated disaster. In 2003, Reedy retired from the GTRI directorship after 33 years at the organization and seven as director. Reedy currently works part-time for the GTRI Sensors and Electromagnetic Applications Laboratory and as an independent consultant. In 1995, he was the president of IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society. From 1998 to 2000, Reedy served on IEEE's national board and was Director of Division IX. In addition, Reedy has served on numerous IEEE committees including the IEEE Technical Activities Board (1995 to 2001). In 2000, he received the IEEE Third Millennium Medal.

Reedy was on the Army Science Board for two three-year terms, from 1993 to 1996 and 1999 to 2005, and served on a Tri-Service Panel led by the Naval Research Advisory Committee to study the "Science and Technology Community in Crisis". In 2004, he was named an honorary alumnus of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Selected publications

Books

Book chapters