Tens of Alums Attend the Armstrong Memorial Lecture by Prof. Yannis Tsividis 

The 2025 Armstrong Memorial Lecture celebrated both innovation and legacy as the Edwin Howard Armstrong Professor of Electrical Engineering Yannis Tsividis delivered a lecture —marking an extraordinary 49-year career at Columbia.

In his talk, “How Not to Waste Time in Real-Time Signal Processing,” Tsividis reexamined one of digital signal processor design’s most fundamental assumptions: the central role of the clock. He demonstrated how information can be carried not only by amplitude but also by timing, eliminating the need for constant synchronization for certain types of such processors.

The lecture concluded with a standing ovation, followed by a reception where faculty, students, and around 40 alumni from around the world gathered to honor Tsividis’ 49 years of teaching, research, and leadership in analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits.

Columbia Engineering School’s Dean Shih-Fu Chang, Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor of Electrical Engineering, reflected on Tsividis’s remarkable impact as a scholar, educator, and mentor at the reception.

“What really inspires me is Yannis’s dedication to fundamentals,” Dean Chang said. “He never chases trends—he builds knowledge that lasts. His influence extends far beyond Columbia through his books, online courses, and the thousands of students he has taught.”

Chang also highlighted Tsividis’ leadership in shaping the School’s core engineering curriculum and his early embrace of online education. “He was among the first to bring our courses online and remains one of the few faculty whose textbooks have become world classics,” Chang added.

Professor Peter Kinget, Bernard J. Lechner Professor of Electrical Engineering, praised Tsividis’ intellectual clarity and mentorship across generations. “Yannis has this rare ability to take complex ideas and explain them with clarity and intuition,” said Kinget. “He plants little seeds in conversations—ideas that quietly grow into transformative research. His advice always centers on substance over form, and that philosophy has inspired all of us.”

Dr. Nagendra Krishnapura, an EE alumnus and former student of Professor Tsividis who now serves as a professor in the Integrated Circuits and Systems group in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, led the alumni reunion following the lecture. 

Reflecting on his mentor’s nearly half-century at Columbia, Krishnapura said, “It’s remarkable to see how, after almost fifty years, Professor Tsividis continues to approach new research problems with the same creativity and endurance. His ability to think differently—and to pursue those ideas with rigor—has inspired generations of students.”

The full lecture video is available here, and photos from the talk and reception can be viewed on Flickr.

Learn more about the Armstrong Memorial Lecture Series here.