Zhi (Gerry) Tian is a Chinese and American electrical engineer, and a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at George Mason University. Her research interests include statistical signal processing, compressed sensing, cognitive radio, and localization in wireless sensor networks. [1]
Tian received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and control theory from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1994. After a master's degree in control theory from Tsinghua University in 1995, she continued her studies at George Mason University, where she received a second master's degree in systems engineering in 1997 and completed a Ph.D. in information technology in 2000. [2]
She joined Michigan Technological University as an assistant professor of electrical engineering in 2000; she was promoted to associate professor in 2005 and full professor in 2011. From 2011 to 2014 she took a leave from Michigan Tech to become a program director for the National Science Foundation, in its Communications, Circuits and Sensing Systems Program. In 2015 she returned to George Mason University as a professor. [2]
Tian received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2003. She was a distinguished lecturer of the IEEE for its Vehicular Technology Society from 2013 to 2017 and for its Communications Society from 2015 to 2016. [2]
In 2012 she was named as an IEEE Fellow "for her contributions to ultra-wideband wireless communications and localization". [3]