Pamela Abshire Named ECE Chair of Stony Brook University

ECE Professor Pamela Abshire has been named Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, New York. She will continue with the UMD ECE Department as an Adjunct/Visiting Professor in order to continue advising her current graduate students.

Abshire holds a joint appointment with the Institute of Systems Research (ISR) and is a member of the Maryland Robotics Center. She is an affiliate of the Brain and Behavior Institute and the Maryland Autonomous Technologies Research Innovation and eXploration (MATRIX) Lab, and a fellow of the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices.

Since joining ECE in 2001, she has acquired an impressive list of accomplishments while at the University of Maryland. In 2020, she was named a UMD ADVANCE Professor, and in 2021 a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher. Other awards include the NSF Career Award, The IEEE Northern Virginia Section Volunteer of the Year Award, the Clark School of Engineering E. Robert Kent Junior Faculty Teaching Award, the Jimmy Lin Award for Entrepreneurship, the ISR Outstanding Systems Engineering Faculty Award, the George Corcoran Memorial Award for Electrical and Computer Engineering Education, and the UMD Invention of the Year Award in Physical Sciences for her research in “Cell Sensor Based Pathogen Detection.”

In 2018, Abshire was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers for contributions to CMOS biosensors. She has served as the General Co-Chair of the 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems and the 2023 IEEE International Midwest Symposium on Circuits and Systems, and as Technical Program Co-Chair of the 2025 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference. She also served on the Emerging Technologies and Research Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Commerce (2008-2018), on the Board of Governors for the IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (2013-2018 and 2024-2026), the IEEE Fellow Committee (2019-2021 and 2025-2026), and on the Microsystems Exploratory Council for the DARPA Microsystems Technology Office.

Her research focuses on VLSI circuit design and bioengineering. She leads the Integrated Biomorphic Information Systems Lab, which has concentrated on discovery at the intersection of electronics and biosystems. She is also a member of Microelectronics at Maryland. She has authored over 160 publications and holds 3 patents.

Abshire has received international recognition and national recognition through her work with IEEE, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the National Science Foundation. She has been a supporter of the UMD-led Mid-Atlantic Semiconductor Collaborative (MASC), which has focused on the continuing development of U.S. production and supply chains for microchips and semiconductors.

“While we are very happy for her new position and exciting new career ahead of her, we are also sad to see her go. Pamela has contributed tremendously to teaching and research in our department, for which we are grateful,” says ECE Chair Sennur Ulukus. “I have watched her career flourish to outstanding levels with admiration over the years.”

Published August 25, 2025