POWER PROFESSORSHIP PROGRAM AT WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY.

The Electrical and Computer Engineering program at Washington State University (WSU), established in 1892, has always had a strong power component. A large number of graduates from the program have obtained employment in the power utility industry. During the early 1970s, because of reduced or stagnant funding for higher education in the United States, many electrical engineering departments were reducing, and in some cases eliminating, the power option from their undergraduate programs. Thus, the Power Professorship Program was established in 1972 with the main objective of maintaining and improving the power engineering component of the department's offerings. A brief summary is given of the program's history, objectives, and accomplishments.