Richard D. Gitlin, EngScD’69, a former visiting faculty and alumni of Columbia Engineering Electrical Engineering Department and senior vice president for communications and networking research at Bell Labs (retired), and distinguished University Professor Emeritus at University of South Florida has been named the recipient of the 2025 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal for “high-impact contributions to communications systems and networks.” The award recognizes Gitlin’s transformative contributions to the development of digital subscriber line (DSL) and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) smart antennas for wireless systems. This groundbreaking work at Bell Labs during the 1980s and 1990s played a pivotal role in shaping these transformative technologies, which are now cornerstones of modern telecommunications.
Awarded annually by the IEEE Awards Board, the Alexander Graham Bell Medal honors individuals whose exceptional achievements have made a lasting impact on technology, society, and the engineering profession. Gitlin will receive this prestigious honor at an IEEE-sponsored conference in 2025. Among his numerous accomplishments, Gitlin co-invented digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, which shattered bit-rate limits of conventional modems, enabling high-speed internet over existing copper telephone lines. His pioneering work in adaptive antenna arrays, now known as MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) technology, laid the foundation for high-capacity 4G, 5G, and 6G wireless systems, as well as Wi-Fi networks.
Gitlin’s career spans more than five decades, marked by leadership in both the communications industry and academia. He earned his doctorate in electrical engineering from Columbia Engineering in 1969 and subsequently joined Bell Labs, where he spent 32 years driving innovation in communications and networking. After retiring from Bell Labs in 2001 as senior vice president for communications and networking research, Gitlin continued to advance the field through roles as a visiting professor at Columbia Engineering, CTO of Silicon Valley startup Hammerhead Systems, and distinguished university professor at USF. At USF, his research bridged communications and medicine, focusing on areas such as in vivo wireless communications, robotic imaging for minimally invasive surgery, and wearable cardiac monitoring devices. He also pursued advancements in 5G/6G networks and the Internet of Things (IoT), prioritizing ultra-reliable, high-throughput, and low-latency networking.
Gitlin’s contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including election to the National Academy of Engineering and fellowships with IEEE, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Inventors. He has been inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame, co-authored a widely used data communications textbook, published 175 papers, and holds 75 U.S. patents.
Beyond his technical achievements, Gitlin has served in prominent leadership roles, including as editor for communication theory of the IEEE Transactions on Communications, chair of the IEEE Communications Society’s Communication Theory Committee, and a member of the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee for Computer Science and Engineering.
Columbia Engineering celebrates Gitlin’s groundbreaking contributions to communications technology and congratulates him on this well-deserved recognition. For a full list of past and present IEEE award recipients, visit the IEEE website.
