In Memoriam: Michael R. Neuman, M.D., Ph.D.

We are saddened to report that Michael R. Neuman, M.D., Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter and an IEEE Fellow, passed away on 18 February 2016. Michael Neuman was a friend and mentor to many, an accomplished researcher and academic as well as a dedicated member of the IEEE Life Sciences community and the Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) for many decades. On behalf of the Life Sciences Technical Committee, we would like to express our gratitude for his enthusiasm, tireless effort, service, mentorship, and leadership. He will be remembered fondly by us all.

Dr. Neuman was a Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, since August 2003, and served as department chair from 2003-2010. Previously, he held the Herbert Herff Chair of Excellence at the Memphis Joint Program in Biomedical Engineering, and served for 32 years on the faculty of Case Western Reserve University in the departments of biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, reproductive biology, and obstetrics and gynecology. He received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1966 from the Case Institute of Technology, and in 1977, he earned an M.D. from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

In 2013, Dr. Neuman was named a Fellow of IEEE for his contributions to the advancement of biomedical sensors and instrumentation with clinical applications. He had received the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Career Achievement Award in 2004. Neuman was also a Fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the Institute of Physics (UK), and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (UK).

Dr. Neuman was President of the International Society on Biotelemetry from 1984 through 1988 and Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering from 1989 through 1996. From 2002-2007, he edited the international journal, Physiological Measurement, and he served as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Pulse, the flagship magazine of EMBS, from 2008-2013. He was a member of the Life Sciences Technical Committee and served as Editor-in-Chief for the IEEE Life Sciences Newsletter beginning October 2014.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Neuman published 172 scientific papers, 250 conference presentations, and held five patents. His obituary can be viewed here.