Dragoslav Siljak, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, passed away on November 16. A long-time faculty member at SCU and acclaimed educator and researcher, Professor Siljak leaves behind his wife Dragana, children Ana and Matija, and five grandchildren, as well as many friends and colleagues who treasured him. The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering remembers him fondly, and would like to recognize his full life and his many gifts.
Professor Siljak was born in Serbia in 1933. He earned his doctorate from the University of Belgrade, where he began his research career. In 1964, he moved to the United States and joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at Santa Clara University. He remained a faculty member for the next 48 years, during which he influenced and inspired many generations of students.
Throughout the 1960s, Professor Siljak collaborated actively with NASA, and received several grants for his research. Among the projects that he worked on during this period, perhaps the most notable one is the design of the Saturn V rocket, which launched Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon in 1969. In the decades that followed, he applied his expertise in control theory to a variety of different areas, including electric power systems, large space structures, population biology, economics and the arms race.
Professor Siljak’s work on decentralized control and large-scale dynamic systems brought him both national and international recognition. In 2010 he received the Richard E. Bellman Control Heritage Award, which is considered to be the most prestigious award in the field of control
systems. He was also named a Lifetime Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (1981), was selected as a Distinguished Professor of the Fulbright Foundation (1984), and became an International Member of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences (1985). At SCU, Professor Siljak held the Benjamin and Mae Swig University Chair from 1983 to 2012. He was honored as the Faculty Senate Professor in 1995, and was named a Centennial Award recipient by the SCU School of Engineering in 2011.
One of the things that made Professor Siljak unique is the fact that his accomplishments were not limited to teaching and engineering research. He was the youngest member of the Yugoslav water polo team that won the Silver Medal at the 1952 Olympics. In the course of a sports career that spanned more than 10 years, he played for a number of clubs that won domestic and international trophies.
While we have lost a wonderful member of our community, we also give thanks for the gift of Professor Siljak’s life.