Meet John Purvis – Coordinator for the Southwest United States
IEEE Life Senior Member John Purvis is our current Region 5 Life Member Coordinator. He has been involved with the IEEE for 56 years, starting as an officer of the student branch at the University of Houston.
During his career, he worked with companies such as Automated Systems (Houston), TRW (Washington, DC), Texas Instruments computer division (Dallas), and National Instruments (Austin). John taught for 20 years in the computer science department of St. Edward’s University and then worked for IBM doing IT work.
In the 1990s, Les Johnson, Central Texas Section Chair, recognized John’s potential and encouraged him to get involved in the local Section. His contributions were significant, serving as secretary, vice-chair, and chair of the Section, along with becoming Computer Society Chapter and LMAG Chair. He also served as K-12 Outreach chair for CTS and, at the Region 5 level, was History Chair and now Life Member Coordinator. John’s involvement in the Central Texas Discover Engineering board, a STEM organization in Austin, further demonstrates his commitment to the community.
