The SSIT Distinguished Lecturer (DL) Program is open to any IEEE entity, but is primarily designed to provide IEEE Sections and SSIT Chapters with access to experienced speakers who can be invited to Section and Chapter events to give presentations on their specific topic(s).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, all DLs are being undertaken virtually. Please click here to download guidelines for DL webinars.
SSIT DL Program Chair/Coordinator
The current SSIT DL Program Chair/Coordinator is: Luis Kun, Ph.D., Fellow AIMBE, Lifetime Fellow IEEE
Luis is currently:
- Distinguished Professor Emeritus of National Security Affairs, William Perry -Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies-National Defense University
- IEEE – Society of Social implications of Technology (SSIT)- Board of Governors (2008-Present)
- IEEE – EMBS – ADCOM – Practitioner Representative (1/1/2020-12/31/2022)
- IEEE- SSIT – Fellows Committee 2019, 2020, 2021 IEEE Life Science Technical Committee Member – SSIT Representative
- Co-Founding Editor in Chief – Journal of Health & Technology – Springer – IUPESM (2010-2020)
- IFMBE Administrative Council (2009-2015) & IFMBE Chairman Global Citizen Safety and Security WG (2006-2018)
- Past IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visitor Program – & Distinguished Lecturer – EMBS & SSIT
- IEEE – Computer Society – BOG (2010-12); Vice-chair Fellows Committee 2016, Fellows Committee 2019
- Chair Search Committee for the 2021 EIC of IEEE Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
- IEEE – EMBS – Editorial Board – Transactions on NanoBioscience, Steering Committee
- · IEEE – Computer Society Adhoc Public Policy Committee, Member – Healthcare Transformation Chair
Requesting a DL Visit
The process for IEEE entities to request an SSIT DL visit is relatively simple:
- The requesting IEEE entity selects a Speaker from the list below and contacts that Speaker direct to discuss the topic and the Speaker’s availability to give a talk at their designated location.
- While Speakers are listed below in respect to their home Region, this is not to imply that they are restricted to giving invited talks only within their home Region. Any IEEE entity, including a Section or Chapter within any Region, can invite a Speaker from its own or any other Region to give a talk at a designated location, including where international travel may be involved. For example, a Speaker who is a member of Region 2 can be invited to give a talk by a Section or Chapter in Region 9. Similarly, within a large Region (say, Region 10), a Speaker in Australia can be invited to give a talk by a Section or Chapter in India.
- To minimise costs, “out-of-region” and international invitations are usually timed to coincide with the Speaker being in – or in the vicinity of – the host locality for other reasons, such as on business or attending a conference.
- If a Speaker is not available in the desired location, or the general area of the desired subject is not covered by a listed Speaker, please contact Luis Kun, the DL Program Chair/Coordinator for assistance.
- The host IEEE entity must agree to cover all the invited Speaker’s expenses (including domestic travel, meals, accommodation and other incidentals), unless – by prior agreement – these are covered by the Speaker or supplemented by SSIT.
- In some cases, SSIT may be able to provide Speakers with supplemental funding toward their travel expenses. Subject to sufficient funds being AVAILABLE in the SSIT DL Budget – there is a modest allocation of only US$4,000/year to support such travel – SSIT may provide up to US$1,000 toward international travel and US$500 toward domestic (USA) travel to get the Speaker to the host location (either by air, train, bus, or car). The host IEEE entity (or the Speaker) must cover all additional costs. It is up to the Speaker, not the host IEEE entity, to request SSIT DL supplemental travel funding.
- Speakers seeking SSIT DL funding supplementation must first submit a proposal to the DL Program Chair/Coordinator for approval before the Speaker agrees to speak, at which time the DL Program Chair/Coordinator would approve or disapprove the engagement, usually based on financial conditions.
- After the engagement and all associated travel has been completed, Speakers must submit their travel reimbursement claim to the SSIT Treasurer on the appropriate forms with original receipts. Remember – prior funding approval of the DL Program Chair/Coordinator is required.
- For further information on Requesting a Speaker, Speaker Expenses and SSIT DL funding supplementation, please contact Luis Kun, the DL Program Chair/Coordinator).
Applying to Become a DL
All new Speakers to the SSIT DL Program must be approved by the SSIT Board of Governors. SSIT Members seeking to be endorsed as a Speaker in the SSIT DL Program need to apply in writing to the DL Program Chair/Coordinator.
Applications should include the following supporting material:
- A one-page covering letter that summarises your qualifications and supports your claim that you are a qualified candidate for a DL (focus on where you’ve spoken, your credentials from an SSIT perspective, and why you are a good addition to the current list of Speakers);
- Your current CV, highlighting SSIT-related activities and invited talks you’ve already given on SSIT topics;
- A list of lecture topics that you’d like to be considered for; and
- Any videos of talks you may have given in the past if available.
Applications will be vetted by the DL Program Chair/Coordinator and those endorsed will be submitted to the SSIT Board of Governors for consideration and approval at their next convenient scheduled meeting. Applicants may enlist a Board member to speak on their behalf at the Board of Governors’ meeting in support of their request. Successful applicants will then have their details included in the listing below.
At its July 2015 meeting, the SSIT Board of Governors passed a motion limiting SSIT DL status to a 2-year term, renewable by application and approval of the Board of Governors, with no limit on the number of terms that can be served. This motion replaced the previous ‘open-ended’ approval of DL status. The Board of Governors also passed a motion approving 2-year terms for all current SSIT DLs, effective July 1, 2015. This motion means that all DL’s appointed before July 2015 will need to apply to have their DL status renewed and approved by the Board of Governors by June 30, 2017. The current list of Distinguished Lecturers was approved by SSIT’s BOG on June 8, and July 13, 2021.
Current SSIT Distinguished Lecturers
The SSIT DL Program currently has 12 endorsed Speakers whose expertise cover a vast range of subjects and topics. You can contact a Speaker by email by clicking on that person’s name below.
Reminder – while Speakers are listed below in respect to their home Region, any IEEE entity, including a Section or Chapter within any Region, can invite a Speaker from its own or any other Region to give a talk at a designated location, including where international travel may be involved.
Region 1 – Northeastern USA
- Clinton Andrews (Senior Member), Princeton/Central New Jersey Section
E.J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Topic 1: Whose Innovations are helping? The disciplines address global warming
Topic 2: Public Roles for Technical Experts
Topic 3: Energy Security
Click here to go to Clint’s webpage at Rutgers.
- Carlos E. Jiménez (Senior Member), Schenectady Section
Open & Smart Government-Justice Specialist / ICT & Public Policy Adviser
Niskayuna, New York
Topic 1: Digital Transformation in the Judicial Sector: the path from paper to artificial intelligence in Justice
Topic 2: Keys for advanced digital government services in the digital economy. Interoperability: much more than data and information sharing
Note: All topics can be presented in both English or Spanish. Carlos is a regular speaker in R9 with the IEEE Computer Society.
Click here to go to Carlos’ webpage.
Region 2 – Eastern USA
- Fahmida N. Chowdhury , Program Director, Office of International Science and Engineering, US National Science Foundation.
Topic 1: Careers at the Rapidly Shifting Human-Technology Frontier: Global Engagement, Local Impact
Topic 2: Fault Detection in Dynamic Systems
Click here to go to Fahmida’s bio and topic abstracts.
- Luis Kun (Life Fellow), Northern Virginia Section
Editor in Chief – Journal of Health & Technology – Springer – IUPESM – WHO
IFMBE Chairman Global Citizen Safety and Security WG, Member Developing Countries WG
Topic 1: Transforming Healthcare through Interoperability
Topic 2: Evolución y Transformación del sistema sanitario y de la salud pública: un gran desafío del Siglo XXI
Topic 3: The National Health Information Infrastructure, Bioterrorism and Public Health
Topic 4: Hurdles in the Information Age on Public Health Practice and Health Care Delivery
Topic 5: “Social Implications of Technology” – Repercusiones de la Ciencia, la Tecnología y los Cambios climáticos en la Aldea Global
Topic 6: “Social Implications of Technology” – The Importance of Education in Science and Technology for the Development of a Nation
Note: All topics can be presented in both English or Spanish.
Click here to go to Luis’s webpage on the IEEE Computer Society DVP website.
Region 3 – Southern USA
- Ron Arkin (Fellow), Atlanta Section
Regents’ Professor & Director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory
Associate Dean for Research & Space Planning
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Lab URL: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/ai/robot-lab/
Topic 1: People Behaving Badly, Robots Behaving Better? Embedding Ethics in Autonomous Combat Robots
Topic 2: The Ethical Quandaries of a Practicing Roboticist
Topic 3: How to not build a Terminator
Topic 4: Intimate Robotics: Ethical Aspects of Personal Human-Robot Interaction
Click here to go to Ron’s webpage at Georgia Tech.
Region 4 – Central USA
- Keith Miller (Member), St. Louis Section
Orthwein Endowed Professor of Lifelong Learning in the Sciences
College of Education, Technology Learning Center
University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO
Topic 1: Computer ethics
Topic 2: Ethical issues related to cyborgs and robots
Topic 3: Online learning
Click here to go to Keith’s webpage at UMSL.
Region 5 – Southwestern USA
- Moshe Vardi,
Moshe Y. Vardi is the George Distinguished Service Professor in Computational Engineering and Director of the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology at Rice University
Topic 1: Humans, Machines, and Work: The Future is Now
Topic 2: An Ethical Crisis in Computing?
Click here to go to Moshe’s bio and topic abstracts
Region 6 – Western USA
- Subrata Saha (Life Senior Member), Seattle Section
Research Professor in the Dept. Restorative Dentistry and an Affiliated Faculty in the Dept. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry
University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
Topic 1: Ethics in Bioengineering and Medicine
Topic 2: Advances in Medical Technology and their Ethical Challenges
Topic 3: Ethics & Responsibility in Research
Click here to go to Subrata’s webpage at SUNY Downstate Medical Center NY, where he worked until October 2016.
Region 7 – Canada – No Distinguished Lecturers, but applications welcome.
Region 8 – Europe, Middle East & Africa
- Paul Cunningham (Senior Member), UK and Ireland Section
President and CEO, IIMC International Information Management Corporation
Executive Director, IST-Africa Institute
Topic 1: Sustainable development,
Topic 2: Research ethics and
Topic 3: Socio-economic and socio-cultural implications of technology, particularly in resource constrained environments
Click here to go to Paul’s bio and topic abstracts.
- Hamidovic Haris,
CISO MCF EKI Sarajevo Financial Services University College, IPI Akademija Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Topic 1: Engineering ethics and professional responsibility
Topic 2: Privacy and security
Click here to go to Haris’s bio and topic abstracts.
- Miriam Cunningham (Senior Member), UK and Ireland Section
Head of Research, IST-Africa Institute
Topic 1: Co-Designing Ethical Interventions in Resource Constrained Environments
Topic 2: Leveraging Appropriate use of Technology in Community focused interventions
Topic 3: Research Ethics
Region 9 – Latin America – No Distinguished Lecturers, but applications welcome.
Region 10 – Asia & Pacific
- Greg Adamson (Senior Member), Victorian Section
Principal Fellow, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia
SSIT Board of Governors 2010-15 and SSIT President 2015-16
IEEE Victorian Section Chair 2012-13
Founding chair, SSIT Australian Chapter, 2005-12
Topic 1: Internet and Society
Topic 2: Engineering Ethics
Topic 3: Technology and Society
Topic 4: Health informatics
Topic 5: Barriers to socially beneficial technology
Topic 6: Information security
Click here to go to Greg’s webpage at The University of Melbourne. - Pradeep Ray (Senior Member), New South Wales Section
Professor and Director, WHO Collaborating Centre on eHealth at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia
IEEE Distinguished Lecturer on eHealth (2014-2015)
Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Communication Society (2014-16)
Founder and Chair, IEEE ComSoc eHealth Technical Committee (2009-2013, Chair 2011-2013)
Founding Chair, IEEE Healthcom (since 1999) – see ieeehealthcom2016
Topic 1: E-Health and mHealth Systems
Sub-topic 1.1: Cooperative Management and Interoperability of Telemedical Information Systems
Sub-topic 1.2: Strategies, Assessment and Evaluation of eHealth and mHealth Systems
Sub-topic 1.3: eHealth for Aged Care
Sub-topic 1.4: Cooperative Management of Healthcare Information Systems Network and Systems Management
Topic 2: E-Business Management for different industry sectors (e.g., telecommunications, healthcare and finance)
Topic 3: Ontology Driven Multi Agent Systems
Click here to go to Pradeep’s webpage at APuHC.
JOIN SSIT