George A. Bekey was a pioneering roboticist and Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC). Born in Bratislava, Slovakia in 1928, he earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1950, an M.S. in Engineering from UCLA in 1952, and a Ph.D. in Engineering from UCLA in 1962. He joined USC in 1962 as Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, becoming Associate Professor in 1964 and Full Professor in 1969. Bekey served as Chair of the Electrical Engineering Department from 1978 to 1982, Chair of the Computer Science Department from 1984 to 1989, and Associate Dean of Research for the School of Engineering from 1997 to 2001. He founded USC’s Biomedical Engineering Department and Robotics Research Laboratory, helped establish the USC Information Sciences Institute in 1972, and secured the school’s first major computer system in the mid-1960s. After retiring from full-time duties in 2002, he continued part-time teaching at California Polytechnic State University in biomedical engineering.

Bekey’s research focused on robotics, including medical and rehabilitation robotics, human-robot interaction, humanoid development, automation, and multi-robot coordination and control. He created the “Phony Pony,” the world’s first four-legged walking machine in 1968, and co-developed the first five-fingered robotic hand in 1977. He authored or co-authored over a dozen books, such as Autonomous Robots: From Biological Inspiration to Implementation and Control (MIT Press, 2005) and Robot Ethics (MIT Press, 2012), and approximately 250 professional articles. Bekey mentored 38 Ph.D. students, many becoming leaders in engineering. His honors include IEEE Fellow (1972), USC School of Engineering Distinguished Faculty Award (1976), National Academy of Engineering member (1989), USC Presidential Medallion (2000), IEEE Third Millennium Medal, and IEEE Robotics and Automation Society awards. He was founding editor of IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation and Autonomous Robots, and President of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (1996-1997).

Professional Email: bekey@usc.edu