He grew up in the heyday of ham radio, when many bright boys like him spent their days tinkering with electronics. As an adult, James Plummer has turned to building tiny silicon circuits in what he describes as "the sandbox" over at the Stanford nanofabrication facility.
Plummer's newest playground is the dean's office at the Engineering School, where he took charge September 1. An electrical engineer who has been at the University for more than 30 years, Plummer succeeds John Hennessy, who became provost in July.
President Gerhard Casper praised Plummer's skill as a scientist and teacher: "Jim has demonstrated his abilities as an outstanding researcher. . . . His interest in continuing to expand the horizons of the School of Engineering, for example in the field of bioengineering, his commitment to undergraduate and graduate teaching, and his personal qualities . . . make him superbly qualified to be the next dean."
The search committee stuck to the long-standing tradition that engineering deans are chosen from the pool of veteran faculty members. Plummer earned his master's and doctoral degrees from Stanford in 1967 and 1971 -- and then never left. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1996 and, since 1997, has chaired the electrical engineering department.
One of his inventions is a chip, known as an insulated gate bipolar transistor, that has been used in motor controls for washing machines, electric power tools, air conditioners and other products that contain electric motors. Chips made from these transistors can improve the efficiency of air conditioner motors by as much as 40 percent by automatically adjusting the motor's speed to fit the task at hand. The technology was patented by Stanford and has generated substantial royalties for the University.
Plummer said he spent the summer thinking about where he would like to lead the school. One direction is clear: biology. Plummer supports Stanford's new Bio-X initiative, designed to increase collaboration among researchers in medicine, engineering, and biological and physical sciences. "Universities are not top-down managed places," Plummer says. "I'm going to look to my faculty colleagues to provide ideas."
