F. Fred Choobineh retires after 42 years of service

F. Fred Choobineh, Blackman Distinguished Professor in electrical and computer engineering, is retiring from the College of Engineering after 42 years of service.

Choobineh joined the faculty in 1978 when the College had fewer than 70 faculty. Today, there are nearly 300 faculty in the College.

He taught many courses, including systems engineering and operations research courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and was advisor to the student chapter of the Institute of Industrial Engineers.

He has served as Principal Investigator or co-PI for more than $70 million of externally funded research projects, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE).

Choobineh received the Nebraska Legislature’s Award for Distinguished Teaching in the College of Engineering and Technology (1991), was four times the recipient of the University of Nebraska Parents’ Association Recognition Award for Contributions to Students. He also led the drafting of College of Engineering by-laws and served for 20 years on the state Board of Engineers and Architects and twice helped to revise the state law and Board rules.

As president of the UNL Faculty Senate (1994-95), Choobineh led major initiatives that included changing the grading system to a plus and minus system, a five-year formal review of UNL administrators and providing tuition benefits to faculty and staff and their immediate family members.