Charles A. Desoer

Charles A. Desoer
Born	Charles Auguste Desoer (1926-01-11)January 11, 1926 Brussels, Belgium
Died	November 1, 2010(2010-11-01) (aged 84) Oakland, California, U.S.
Citizenship	Belgium, United States
Alma mater	University of Liège Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ScD, 1953)
Known for	Basic Circuit Theory Feedback Systems: Input–Output Properties Contributions to circuit and control theory
Scientific career
Fields	Electrical engineering Control theory Circuit theory Systems theory
Workplaces	Bell Labs University of California, Berkeley
Doctoral students	S. Shankar Sastry

Charles Auguste Desoer (January 11, 1926 – November 1, 2010) was a Belgian-American electrical engineer and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He was known for his research in circuit theory, system theory, and control theory, and for a series of influential textbooks that became standard references in the field.

Early life and education

Desoer was born in Brussels, Belgium, on January 11, 1926. During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II he fought with the Belgian Resistance, and after the liberation he joined the Belgian Army. He earned a radio engineer degree from the University of Liège in 1949, then moved to the United States, where he received an ScD in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1953. The University of Liège awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1976.

Career

In 1953, Desoer began his career at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he worked primarily on network synthesis and circuit design, and served as a consultant on the first transatlantic telephone cable. In 1958 he left Bell Labs to join the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, becoming a full professor in 1962. He continued as professor emeritus following his retirement in 1993.

Desoer's research addressed the analysis, design, and control of linear and nonlinear circuits and systems. His work contributed to the growth of control applications in the aerospace, transportation, and process control industries.

Desoer was widely regarded as a gifted teacher whose style emphasized clarity of thought and elegance of presentation. His textbooks—including Linear System Theory: The State Space Approach (with Lotfi A. Zadeh, 1963), Basic Circuit Theory (with Ernest S. Kuh, 1969), and Feedback Systems: Input–Output Properties (with Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, 1975)—are considered classics in circuits, systems, and control. The Charles A. Desoer Chair in Engineering at UC Berkeley is named in his honor.

Awards and honors

Desoer received numerous honors during his career, including:

• Guggenheim Fellowship (1970)
• UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award (1971)
• IEEE James H. Mulligan Jr. Education Medal (1975)
• American Automatic Control Council Education Award (1983)
• IEEE Control Systems Award (1986)
• IEEE Mac E. Van Valkenburg Award (1996)
• IEEE Gustav Robert Kirchhoff Award (2011, posthumous)

He was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1977, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1982, and a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Death

Desoer died on November 1, 2010, in Oakland, California, at the age of 84, from complications of a stroke.

Selected publications

• Zadeh, Lotfi A.; Desoer, Charles A. (1963). Linear System Theory: The State Space Approach. McGraw-Hill.
• Desoer, Charles A.; Kuh, Ernest S. (1969). Basic Circuit Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Desoer, Charles A.; Vidyasagar, Mathukumalli (1975). Feedback Systems: Input–Output Properties. Academic Press.