Meet Howard Michel, Vice-Chair of the LMC
Since joining IEEE more than four decades ago, Howard Michel has held a number of leadership positions.
Currently, the Director of the IEEE Foundation and Vice Chair of the IEEE Life Member Committee, Michel was the 2015 IEEE President and 2011-2012 Vice President of Member and Geographic Activities (MGA). There, he led efforts to enhance IEEE’s member and volunteer communities. Michel chaired the Public Visibility Committee that created IEEE’s “Advancing Technology for Humanity” tagline.
From October 2018 to January 2020, Michel was the Chief Executive Officer at ARRL, the National Association for Amateur Radio. Previously, he was the founding Chief Technology Officer at UBTECH Education and Senior Vice President of UBTECH Robotics, a privately held US$10 billion AI and robotics company. He currently serves as Senior Advisor for UBTECH Robotics.
Prior to that, Michel was a U.S. Air Force officer, having served as a pilot, satellite launch director, engineer, and engineering manager, including a tour in the People’s Republic of China, where he served as a senior U.S. Government technical representative enforcing technology-transfer control plans and procedures during two satellite launch operations.
Michel is a part-time lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, teaching the capstone senior design for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Formerly, he was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
On his robust involvement with IEEE and joining the IEEE Foundation Board of Directors, Michel’s personal philosophy is, “Do what matters to you, and you’ll have a rewarding life.” Adding, “Leadership is not about giving orders. It’s about getting people to follow your vision.”
