Ephremides, Anthony
Cynthia Kim Eminent Professor of Information Technology
The Institute for Systems Research
He received his B.S. degree from the National Technical University of Athens (1967) and M.S. (1969) and Ph.D. (1971) degrees from Princeton University, all in Electrical Engineering. He has been at the University of Maryland since 1971 and currently holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department and in the Institute of Systems Research (ISR) of which he is a founding member. He is co-founder of the NASA Center for Commercial Development of Space on Hybrid and Satellite Communications Networks established in 1991 at Maryland as an off-shoot of the ISR. He served as Co-Director of that Center from 1991 to 1994.
He was a Visiting Professor in 1978 at the National Technical University in Athens, Greece and in 1979 at the EECS Department of the University of California, Berkeley and at INRIA, France. During 1985-1986 he was on leave at MIT and ETH in Zurich, Switzerland. He was the General Chairman of the 1986 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control in Athens, Greece and the 1991 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory in Budapest, Hungary. He also organized two workshops on Information theory in 1984 (Hot Springs, VA) and 1999 (Metsovo, Greece). He was the Technical Program Co-Chair of the IEEE INFOCOM in New York City in 1999 and the IEEE International Symposium on Information theory in Sorrento, Italy in 2000.
He has also been the Director of the Fairchild Scholars and Doctoral Fellows Program, an academic and research partnership program in Satellite Communications between Fairchild Industries and the University of Maryland. He won the IEEE Donald E. Fink Prize Paper Award (1992) and he was the first recipient of the Sigmobile Award of the ACM (Association of Computer Machinery) for contributions to wireless communications in 1997. He has been the President of the Information Theory Society of the IEEE (1987) and has served on its Board of Governors almost continuously from 1981 until the present. He was elected to the Board of Directors of the IEEE in 1989 and 1990.
Dr. Ephremides has authored or co-authored over 100 technical journal papers and 300 technical conference presentations. He has also contributed chapters to several books and edited numerous special issues of scientific journals. He has also won awards from the Maryland Office of Technology Liaison for the commercialization of products and ideas stemming from his research. He has served on the Editorial Boards of the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, IEEE Transactions on Information theory, the Journal of Wireless Networks, and the International Journal of Satellite Communications.
He has been the Dissertation Supervisor of over twenty Ph.D. students who now hold prominent positions in academia, industry, and research labs. He is the founder and President of Pontos, Inc., a Maryland company that provides technical consulting services since 1980.
Dr. Ephremides' interests are in the areas of communication theory, communication systems and networks, queueing systems, signal processing, and satellite communications. NSF, NASA, ONR, ARL, NRL, NSA, and Industry have continuously supported his research since 1971.
He has served in many capacities in the IEEE and other organizations, from local organization posts to President of the Information Theory Society and member of the Institute Board of Directors, including Technical Program Chair and General Chair of Major Conferences.
Dr. Ephremides and his wife Jane are also known for their philanthropic contributions to the Clark School of Engineering and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. You can read about their work in this Engineering @ Maryland article from Fall 2022.
Honors and awards
• Distinguished University Professor
• U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Alan Berman Research Publication Award (2007)
• IEEE Information Theory Society Aaron Wyner Distinguished Service Award (2006)
• Kirwan Research and Scholarship Prize, University of Maryland (2002)
• IEEE Millennium Medal (2000)
• ISR Outstanding Systems Engineering Faculty Award, University of Maryland (2000)
• ACM/SIGMOBILE Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research on Mobility of Systems, Users, Data, and Computing (1997)
• George Corcoran Award for Faculty, ECE Department (1978)
• IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer
• IEEE Fellow
• President of the IEEE Information Theory Society
• President of the Information Theory Society
• Member, IEEE Institute Board of Directors
IEEE Information Theory Society Matters
On this page Dr. Ephremides includes views, facts, articles, opinions, etc. pertaining to the IEEE Information Theory Society, which he has been a member of since 1968. The page includes his "Historian's Columns" for the society.
All aspects of communications systems (information theory, communication theory, multi-user systems, communication networks, satellite systems) with focus on energy efficiency and cross-layer approaches to design; systems theory, stochastic systems, optimization, signal processing, wireless communications, age of information, and other related, or unrelated, subjects.
UMD's 40th Annual Convocation Honors Engineering Staff, Faculty
The University of Maryland's 40th annual Convocation will honor 33 faculty and staff—including four from the A. James Clark School of Engineering—for their contributions to education, research, and the campus community.Hu, Ulukus, DeVoe Recognized with UMD Distinguished Honors
Three Maryland Engineering professors—Liangbing Hu, Sennur Ulukus, and Don DeVoe—are among the 16 University of Maryland faculty members recognized this year as Distinguished University Professors and Distinguished Scholar-Teachers.Congratulations May 2023 ISR graduates!
Here's a list of May graduates with ISR ties---at all degree levels.Five Clark School authors part of new 'Age of Information' book
The text provides detailed information on the AoI network performance metric ushering in new opportunities for rethinking communication system design.Sennur Ulukus Announced as New ECE Chair
Tenure as Chair began November 7, 2022Sennur Ulukus receives 2020 IEEE ComSoc WICE Outstanding Achievement Award
Ulukus honored "for outstanding technical work and for achieving a high degree of visibility in the field of communications engineering, through research and service."Ulukus, Modiano guest-edit IEEE journal special issue on Age of Information
The issue includes 21 articles that reflect the state of the art in Age of Information research.Seven Students Win 2021 Dean's Research Awards
From fabricated human tissue to Wifi beamed from space, awards recognize cutting-edge researchCongratulations, May 2021 ISR graduates!
Institute for Systems Research faculty advised PhD, MS, BS and 12 MSSE students who graduated in May 2021.David L. Elliott: An Appreciation
Dr. Elliott, a longtime ISR senior visiting faculty member, passed away on July 2, 2020Bill Fagan named UMD Distinguished University Professor
Fagan is the sixth ISR faculty member to receive the honor.Real-time remote reconstruction of signals for the Internet of Things
Ephremides, Wang and Chen find optimal sampling parameters that balance the tradeoff between the sampling distortion and the distortion caused by queueing, then induce the minimum average distortion.Ephremides and colleagues consider Age of Information scheduling problem for interconnected sensors
The authors show the Whittle’s index policy is age-optimal for the general asymmetrical case in the burgeoning many-users regime of Internet of Things interconnected devices.Ephremides honored with Festschrift in the journal Ad Hoc Networks
The special issue includes tributes and 12 papers written by former advisees. It was edited by three of them.ECE Names 2018-2019 Distinguished Dissertation Fellows
Three electrical and computer engineering Ph.D. students were selected as ECE Distinguished Dissertation Fellows for 2018-19.Ulukus Named ECE Associate Chair for Graduate Studies
Sennur Ulukus will serve as the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies from 2018-2021.ECE Inducts Three New Distinguished Alumni
Ghanadan, Tan, and Viniotis inducted for leadership and meritorious contributions to engineering, humanitarian efforts, and the application of their engineering education to other disciplines.Ephremides leads new NSF Age of Information project
The project will use the new concept of Age of Information to discover the relationships between information theory and signal processing, two of the main pillars of information science.Ulukus named Anthony Ephremides Professor in Information Sciences and Systems
The chaired professorship provides annual support for a faculty member in the field of Information Sciences and Systems in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.Ephremides is PI for new ONR 'age of information' grant
The research will focus on the use of age for wireless network control.John S. Baras inducted into Clark School Innovation Hall of Fame
Baras created algorithms and protocols by which Internet services can be delivered over satellite.Ephremides speaks at Princeton EE commencement event
He earned his Ph.D. at Princeton in 1971.Ephremides and colleagues issued U.S. Patent 9,318,232
The invention is a new apparatus, system, and technique for performing matrix spectral factorization.Alumnus Tassiulas Wins 2016 IEEE Kobayashi Award
ECE alum recognized for scheduling and stability analysis of networks.NSF Funds Novel Research to Create Scalable Wireless Networking, Averting Usage Crisis
Ephremides is co-PI on half-million dollar, three year grantUMD Clark School Highlights Disaster Resilience at Mpact Week
Five-day event focused on role of engineers in disaster prevention, mitigation, and response.Reelin’ in a Whopper—A True Fish Tale
Ephremides and Gomez take to the waters of Alaska for sportfishing.Ephremides Wins IEEE MILCOM Lifetime Achievement Award
Professor Ephremides named 2014 IEEE MILCOM Technical Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient for his contributions to military communications.Ephremides Receives 2012 AHSN Technical Recognition Award
Ephremides recognized by the IEEE Communication Society as a significant contributor to Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks field.Ephremides Named Distinguished University Professor
ECE Professor receives highest academic honor conferred by the University of Maryland.Ephremides Chairs ISIT 2011 Conference in St. Petersburg
Professor organizes premier conference of the prestigious IEEE Information Theory Society.Jeongho Jeon Earns NIST-ARRA Fellowship
ECE graduate student is awarded a three-year fellowship.Ephremides Engages in Distinguished Lecture Tour in Sweden
Ephremides gives lectures at four universities in Sweden, attends Green Communications workshop in Turkey.Ephremides Gives Distinguished Lectures on Wireless Networking
Professor speaks in Australia, New Zealand as part of IEEE Communications Society program.Ephremides Receives ONR Grant for Wireless Networks Research
Professor will receive support to research alternative measures of network ultimate capabilities.Ephremides Receives NSF Grant for Cooperative Networking
Research goes beyond the physical layer in defining cooperative techniques for wireless networks.ECE Faculty Honored at Inaugural Scholarship & Research Celebration
Twenty-seven ECE faculty members honored, representing 1/8 of researchers recognized university-wide.Ephremides Gives Distinguished Lecture at Texas A&M
Professor speaks on the subject of wireless ad hoc networks.Researchers Win MURI Award for Multi-Scale Networks
Team that includes Profs. Baras and Ephremides wins multi-million dollar grant to develop communication networks.Ephremides Gives Two Invited Talks at Colorado State
Prof. Tony Ephremides delivered a distinguished lecture talk and special seminar on the subject of networking.Ephremides Establishes Chair Professorship
ECE professor "gives back" to the Clark School.Liu Named Fellow of the Academy of Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Professor selected to join University of Maryland teaching academy.Ephremides Delivers Plenary Lecture at IEEE Communication Theory Workshop
Professor presents plenary lecture an unprecedented second consecutive year.Ephremides, Nguyen, Wieselthier win NRL publication award
Co-authors are honored for paper extending existing models to better characterize the impact of the physical layer on random-access network performance.ISR alums Leonard, Tassiulas named IEEE Fellows
Both earned Electrical Engineering Ph.D.s in the early 1990s.Ephremides Delivers Distinguished Lectures on Wireless Networks
ECE/ISR professor tours Northeast as IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer.Ephremides quoted in Computerworld article
Wireless expert offers opinions on the future of mobile technologyEphremides wins information theory service award
IEEE recognizes professor for his service and leadership in the field of information theory.ISR alum earns tenure at MIT
Eytan Modiano, a specialist in optical and ad hoc wireless networks, is an associate professor at MIT.Post-doctoral Fellow Luo Joins Colorado State Faculty
Luo is moving on after four years as post-doctoral fellow at Maryland.Ephremides To Deliver Keynote at IEEE Communication Theory Workshop
Ephremides is one of three featured plenary speakers at 35th annual workshop.Ephremides, Ulukus, Tassiulas part of DoD MURI
Researchers to investigate dynamic, ad-hoc wireless networkingEphremides speaks at LG Labs
Professor travels to Seoul to address leading manufacturer of cell phonesEphremides appointed Cynthia Kim Professor
Dean Nariman Farvardin announces newly created information technology position.Ephremides, Baras, La, Ulukus awarded wireless networks grant
Research to exploit inter-layer dependencies in network protocols for improved performance.Baras, Berenstein, Ephremides, Liu and Papadopoulos win DoD URI
Research to focus on distributed immune systems for wireless networks information assuranceInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Fellow, 1984
- Matrix spectral factorization for data compression, filtering, wireless communications, and radar systems
- Method and System for Cooperative Transmission in Wireless Multi-Hop Networks
- Group TDMA frame allocation method and apparatus
- Power Control-Based Admission Methods for Maximum Throughput in DS-CDMA Networks with Multimedia Traffic
- Integrated Method for Performing Scheduling, Routing and Access Control in a Computer Network
- Power Control for Active Link Quality Protection in CDMA Networks
- Capacity enhancement for multi-code CDMA with integrated services through quality of services and admission control
- Method and device for placement of transmitters in wireless networks
- NSF: CIF: CR: On the Fundamental Nature of the Age of Updates
- ONR: Age of Information: Concept, Metric and Tool for Network Control
- NSF Collaborative Research: Theoretical Foundation of Distributed Wireless Channel Access
- Energy-Efficient Cognitive Networking
- Throughput Rates, Capacities, and Ultimate Capabilities for Wireless Networks with Bursty Traffic
- Cooperative Networking across the Layers
- NSF Collaborative Research: Systematic Optimization in Wireless Multicasting
- Wireless networks
- Twenty Five Years of Wireless Networks
- Cooperation in Wireless Networks
- Optimal Power and Rate Control for Proportional Fairness in Time-Varying Wireless Networks
- Impact of Probabilistic Neighbor Discovery on Performance of Sensor Networks
- Optimal rate control policies for proportional fairness in wireless networks
- Network coding of packets for multicast over a time-varying communication channel
- A Game Theoretic Look at Joint Multi Access, Power and Rate Control
- Energy Efficient Power Control for Wireless Queueing Networks
- Source Coding and Parallel Routing
- Joint Multi-Access and Routing as a Stochastic Game for Relay Channel
- Power Levels and Packet Lengths in Random Multiple Access with Multi-Packet Reception Capability
- Standard and Quasi-Standard Stochastic Power Control Algorithms
- Joint Scheduling and Routing Algorithm for Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks
- Energy Efficient Collision Resolution in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks
- Distributed Routing and Scheduling in Resource-Limited Wireless Ad Hoc Networks with Connectionless Traffic
- Power Control in Uplink and Downlink CDMA Systems with Multiple Flow Types