Thomas Kailath

Thomas Kailath
Thomas Kailath with his wife, Anuradha Luther Maitra
Born	(1935-06-07) June 7, 1935 (age 81) Pune, India
Residence	United States
Nationality	American citizen
Fields	Control theory
Institutions	Stanford University
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Government College of Engineering
Notable awards	IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal (1995) Claude E. Shannon Award (2000) IEEE Medal of Honor (2007) Padma Bhushan (2009) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2009) National Medal of Science (2012)

Thomas Kailath (born June 7, 1935) is an electrical engineer, information theorist, control engineer, entrepreneur and the Hitachi America Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, at Stanford University. Professor Kailath has authored several books, including the well-known book Linear Systems, which ranks as one of the most referenced books in the field of linear systems. In 2012, Kailath was awarded the National Medal of Science, presented by President Barack Obama in 2014 for "transformative contributions to the fields of information and system science, for distinctive and sustained mentoring of young scholars, and for translation of scientific ideas into entrepreneurial ventures that have had a significant impact on industry." Kailath is listed as an ISI highly cited researcher and is generally recognized as one of the preeminent figures of twentieth-century electrical engineering.

Kailath was born in 1935 in Pune, Maharashtra, India, to a Malayalam-speaking Syrian Christian family named Chittoor. His parents hailed from Kerala. He studied at St. Vincent's High School, Pune and received his engineering Bachelor's degree from the Government College of Engineering, the University of Pune in 1956. He received his Master's degree in 1959 and his doctorate degree in 1961, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was the first Indian-born student to receive a doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT.