Engineering professor spends career giving back to doctoral students

APRIL 15, 2022 — Electrical and computer engineering professor, renowned author, and holder of the Lutcher Brown Distinguished Endowed Chair, Mo Jamshidi, left Shiraz, Iran and moved to America in January 1963 for what he saw as an “ocean of opportunities.”

He has worked in academia for 51 years and has spent the last 16 teaching and researching at UTSA.

In February 2006, during his second month as a UTSA professor, Jamshidi decided it was time to join several of his fellow faculty members and begin giving back to the university.

He created the Mo and Jila Jamshidi Graduate Fellowship for students nearing the completion of their doctoral studies, so they could conduct more research in the field. This would also help UTSA achieve and maintain Tier One research status, which the university recently earned.

Jamshidi expressed he is very happy this status was achieved before his retirement.

“I decided it was time to begin giving back to UTSA because of the kindness of the administration, faculty, and staff who welcomed me to the university, and the many great opportunities I have been given as an endowed professor to help my students and junior faculty succeed,” Jamshidi said. “My students’ success is the most important thing to me and I am happy I can help them accomplish their dreams in this field.”

He says he views his students as his own children. Every penny of his endowment has gone toward his students who have passed their doctorate qualifying exams, and still need to complete their research and dissertations to achieve graduation. From research and student wages to recruitment and travel opportunities, Jamshidi always has his students’ futures at the forefront of his mind.

“Being able to pay my students gives them the bandwidth to conduct research and publish papers without having to work outside jobs that can interfere with their focus and delay their graduation,” he said.

During his 27-year career as a professor at The University of New Mexico, Jamshidi helped 35 Ph.D. students graduate. During his time at UTSA, he has graduated 31 Ph.D. students. This number of students has helped the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering become one of the top producers of Ph.D.s at UTSA.

Several of his former students work with him today as professors in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as well as the Department of Computer Science. Some of these professors have even worked with Jamshidi since they were undergraduate students. Many of his former students are now working in 28 countries around the world.

As a result of giving to his fellowship every year, the first Computer and Electrical Engineering student was awarded the Mo and Jila Jamshidi Graduate Fellowship on February 17, 2022. 

With 79 books and over 800 publications to his name, Jamshidi will retire from UTSA in summer 2022. He plans to return to UTSA each year for the ceremony that will award the next graduate students with his fellowship. Jamshidi says he has faith that these students will become great, contributing members of the ever-evolving electrical and computer engineering fields. He is also proud to be among the many other faculty members who have contributed to UTSA in a scholarly and innovative manner.