John L. Volakis place of birth Chios
John L. Volakis (Greek: Ιωάννης Λ. Βολάκης) is a Greek-born American engineer, educator and author. He is the Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University (FIU). He was born in Chios, Greece on May 13, 1956, and immigrated to the United States in 1973. He is an IEEE, ACES, AAAS and NAI Fellow and a recipient of the URSI Gold Medal. He served as the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society President (2004), and as chair and Vice Chair of the International Radio Science Union (URSI), Commission B (2017-2023).
He carried out innovations and research on diffraction theory, antennas, medical sensing, computational methods, electromagnetic compatibility and interference, propagation, design optimization, Radio Frequency (RF) materials and metamaterials, Radio Frequency Identifications (RFIDs), millimeter waves and terahertz, body-worn wireless technologies, and multi-physics engineering.Early life
John (Ioannis) Volakis was born on 13 May 1956 in Chios, Greece. He grew up in the small farming village of Olympi, part of the mastic villages located south of the island of Chios. During his early years, he enjoyed working in olive groves, wheat fields and the unique mastic trees of the region. When 12 years old, he moved to the city of Chios to attend the historic 1st gymnasium (now 1st lyceum). He immigrated to the United States in 1973, and after spending a few months in the Warren G. Harding High School to acquire a working knowledge of the English language, he went on to pursue his childhood dream of becoming an electrical engineer.
birthplace place of origin native place homeland birth city