Biosketch

Burks Oakley II

Biosketch

Burks Oakley II is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also is a Visiting Research Professor in the Office of Technology-Enhanced Learning at the University of Illinois at Springfield. From 1997 until 2007, Oakley served as an Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois. He was the founding director of the University of Illinois Online initiative, a program designed to facilitate the development and delivery of University of Illinois courses, degrees, and public service resources over the Internet. His areas of interest include distance education and educational technologies. Through his innovative use of technology in teaching, Professor Oakley has earned a national reputation as a practitioner and promoter of Internet-based asynchronous learning environments.

Oakley received his B.S. degree from Northwestern University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and for his innovative use of technology in education, including the Luckman Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award from UIUC in 1993, the Outstanding Teacher Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) in 1993, the Educom Medal in 1996, the Educational Activities Board Major Educational Innovation Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1996, the Meritorious Service Award from the IEEE Education Society in 1998, the Third Millennium Medal from the IEEE in 2000, the Engineering Alumni Society Merit Award from the University of Michigan in 2003, and the Sloan-C Award for the "Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Teaching and Learning by an Individual" in 2003. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the ASEE, and a former Vice President of the ASEE.