Mark Spong

Mark W. Spong received his D.Sc. in systems science and mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis. He has held faculty positions at several prestigious universities, including Lehigh University, Cornell University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Texas at Dallas (UT-Dallas). Currently, Spong is a professor of systems engineering and electrical and computer engineering and the holder of the Excellence in Education Chair at UT-Dallas. Additionally, he is the Donald Biggar Willet Professor Emeritus at Illinois.

Spong served as the dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and holder of the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair at UT-Dallas from 2008 to 2017. During this time, he helped establish four new engineering departments, nine new degree programs and more than doubled the number of students and faculty.

Spong is a prolific author with over 350 technical papers in control and robotics, seven books and holds one patent. His research interests include robotics, mechatronics and nonlinear control theory. He is a past president of the IEEE Control Systems Society and past editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology.

He has won numerous awards for his work, including the 2020 Rufus Oldenberger Medal from ASME, 2018 Bode Lecture Prize from the IEEE Control Systems Society, 2016 Nyquist Prize from the ASME Division of Dynamic Systems and Control, 2011 Pioneer in Robotics Award from the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, and first IROS Fumio Harashima Award for Innovative Technologies in 2007 among others. He is a life fellow of the IEEE and a fellow of IFAC.