Kan Chen, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, College of Engineering, professor of urban, technological, and environmental planning, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and research scientist, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), retired from active faculty status on December 31, 1995.

Professor Chen received his B.E.E. degree from Cornell University in 1950 and his S.M. and Sc.D. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1951 and 1954, respectively. He was employed at the Westinghouse Research Laboratory from 1954-65 and directed the Urban Development Program at the Stanford Research Institute from 1966-70. He was appointed the Paul G. Goebel Professor of Advanced Technology at the University of Michigan in 1971 and professor of electrical and computer engineering in 1972.

In 1980, Professor Chen was named director of the Program in Urban, Technological, and Environmental Planning, an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program focusing on public policy and planning in urban and regional planning, sociotechnological systems, and environmental analysis and design. In 1989, in recognition of his growing role in transportation research, he was appointed research scientist at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. As co-director of the Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS) project and director of the IVHS Laboratory in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, he was key in attracting a major center from the U.S. Department of Transportation in this field.

Professor Chen's research interests have ranged from equipment control to integrated plant control, scheduling problems, and problems of industrial management, and from there, to broader systems problems associated with public policy and societal choice. He is recognized internationally as an expert in the fields of automatic control and systems science and as a leader in applying systems engineering principles to societal problems. He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Professor Chen was actively involved in establishing ties between the University of Michigan and the People's Republic of China and was named the first director of the Project on United States-China Auto Industry Cooperation in 1986.

The Regents now salute this distinguished faculty member by naming Kan Chen professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science, professor emeritus of urban, technological and environmental planning, and research scientist emeritus.

Regents’ Proceedings, March 1996, Page 333