Thomas H. Lee, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, received the Dean’s Award for Industry Education Innovation at commencement ceremonies on June 14, 2003. Professor Lee was recognized for outstanding teaching and exemplary leadership in bringing the Stanford curriculum to industry students through distance learning. Professor Lee teaches Analog Integrated Circuit Design and RF Integrated Circuit Design.

“Professor Lee is absolutely the best lecture/professor I have ever met. He is so knowledgeable, so humorous, so kind. Listening to his lectures is like enjoying a great concert. I fully support awarding him this great honor.”
—MAXIM Integrated Products

“Prof. Lee's possesses an exceptional ability of motivating and exciting his audience. His detailed knowledge of the history of semiconductors allows him to present the study material in an inspiring way. In several instances, he presents practical implementations of the material taught, which is especially important to me as an engineer working in industry. His clear and concise explanations of even complicated subjects make it easy to follow his lectures. The knowledge gained through one of his lectures really enabled me to understand certain aspects of my job better.”
—Agilent Technologies

“Dr. Lee has two traits in particular that I think make him an effective educator. First, he does an excellent job of bringing applications of the theory we learn to the classroom. Often Dr. Lee would bring in real-world design examples to show us how the basic concepts we learned were being applied in real products. Second, Dr. Lee has a true appreciation for history of the field of semiconductor design, and he shares his knowledge often during class. This was helpful to many of us in increasing our desire to learn more about the subject.”
—Motorola

“His teaching style is just fabulous. The great ease with which he explains most complex designs and concepts is beyond comparison. I am an ardent fan of his teaching style. Only a person with such magnitude and depth of knowledge can dare to split-open the latest complex analog designs and take students on a smooth walk through them.”

“He is very accommodating for distance learners. He arranged for evening TA hours and formulated late HW policy for SITN students, which made it easy for me to handle course and job simultaneously.”
—Sun

“Professor Lee is by far the most enthusiastic professor I have encountered at Stanford. His passionate for the subject reaches out from the TV screen and motivates all who watches. He is funny and dynamic which helps tremendously as a distance learner. I especially like his inclusion of historic facts and perspectives on the subject he is lecturing about. He is thorough and his presentation style makes tough subjects easy to grasp. Though I never visited his office hours, I can just imagine a big smile and open arms greeting each student who visits. He is a great teacher!!”
—Agilent Technologies

“Professor Lee is without question the best professor I have ever had. His teaching is not only clear and to the point, but also entertaining... The students in EE214/EE314 definitely got their money's worth… I would be extremely hard pressed to find a professor better at teaching.”
—Cadence

“I was able to design a much improved error amplifier for a new buck voltage mode controller. The circuit worked and its performance pushed the limits of the process. Also, peers were impressed in the design review because the topology used was new to them.”
—NDO, National Semiconductor Corporation

The Stanford Center for Professional Development has been serving the educational needs of industry for 33 years by extending the Stanford engineering classroom via distance learning technologies as well as developing and delivering professional education programs. The success of this endeavor to bridge Stanford and industry would not be possible without the commitment of participating faculty to engage in activities that extend beyond normal teaching requirements.

The Dean's Award for Industry Education Innovation was created in 2001 to recognize faculty members for distinguished service in this endeavor, innovative curricula, creative teaching approaches, and effective use of delivery technologies. Previous recipients of the Dean’s Award are Professor “Kos” Ishii, Mechanical Engineering (2001) for his work with industry students through Design for Manufacturability and Professor Ray Levitt, Civil and Environmental Engineering (2002) for his vision and leadership in the development of the Stanford Advanced Project Management program.