University of Johannesburg Bestowed Honorary Doctoral Degree on Prof. Khaled B. LETAIEF

25/10/2022

Honoring Distinguished Contributions to Wireless Communications

University of Johannesburg Bestowed Honorary Doctoral Degree on Prof. Khaled B. LETAIEF

Prof. Khaled B. Letaief, newly appointed Honorary Doctor of Engineering by the University of Johannesburg (UJ), delivered his acceptance speech at UJ’s graduation ceremony on October 12, 2022. (Photo credit: University of Johannesburg) [Download Photo]

New Bright Professor of Engineering Prof. Khaled B. LETAIEF, Acting Provost and Chair Professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering, was conferred an honorary doctoral degree by the University of Johannesburg (UJ), South Africa during the university’s graduation ceremony held on October 12, 2022 in the Sanlam Auditorium at its Kingsway Campus.

Prof. Letaief is one of the six luminaries who are conferred honorary doctorates by UJ this year. Among them are two Nobel Prize laureates – one in Literature (2021) and another in Chemistry (2013). Prof. Letaief was awarded the Honorary Doctorate in Engineering by UJ’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.

World leaders who received honorary doctorates from UJ before include President XI Jinping (2019) and former US President Barack OBAMA (2014).

The honorary doctorate was awarded in recognition of Prof. Letaief’s international extraordinary contributions to wireless communications with major impact in academia and industry. Notable among his contributions are his revolutionary work on multiuser OFDM and more recently on 6G, and machine learning in wireless communications. His breakthrough work has significantly changed the landscape of the field and influenced the scientific community and industry alike.

Prof. Letaief said in his acceptance speech, “I thank the University of Johannesburg for bestowing upon me this great honor. This is very special to me and especially gratifying to be receiving it from a distinguished South African university that has already anchored itself as the international university of choice in Africa and is continuously shaping the future. […] I am proud to be African as well as proud to now be associated with a leading University with African roots that has evolved into a diverse, inclusive, transformational institution and which has already contributed much to the African continent evolving.” The full acceptance speech is accessible from here (1:06:27–1:22:50).

The honorary doctorate marks the second major recognition that Prof. Letaief has received from the African continent, followed by Tunisia’s national accolade for the Best Tunisian Researcher or Inventor Abroad in 2020. Other recent honors include being elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2021 and recognized among the top 30 worldwide list of AI 2000 Most Influential Scholars in Internet of Things in 2020. He is also a Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), and Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Prof. Letaief joined HKUST in 1993 and has served in many high-level administrative positions, including Dean of Engineering (2009-2015) and Head of Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering (2003-2009) at HKUST, and Provost of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (2015-2018) in Qatar. He also took leadership roles in professional societies, such as President of the IEEE Communications Society (2018-2019), the world’s leading organization for communications professionals, and Founding Editor-in-Chief (2002-2006) of the well-regarded IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

In his research areas, he has published more than 700 papers with over 43,780 citations and an h-index of 91, along with 15 patents, including 11 US inventions.