Presently Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Stephen H. Unger has been at Columbia University since 1961. He is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and received his doctorate at MIT. Prior to coming to Columbia, he was a member of the Technical Staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories, first doing research in digital systems, and later heading a development group working on the first electronic telephone switching system. Dr. Unger has been a summer and/or sabbatical year employee of GE, IBM, RCA Laboratories, the Western Electric Research Center, and Bell Laboratories, as well as a consultant for several organizations. He has published over forty technical papers and reports on computer related subjects, as well as two books, Asynchronous Sequential Switching Circuits and The Essence of Logic Circuits. He was awarded one patent. His current research is principally in the area of self-timed systems.
For over twenty years, Professor Unger has also been active in the area of technology policy, writing and speaking on such topics as engineering ethics, secrecy, energy, and war. He has been teaching courses on technology and society for engineering and computer science students. He was founder and later president of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology and continues to be an active member of its governing body. Dr. Unger was a member of the IEEE USAB Ethics Committee, played a principal role in the development of the original IEEE Ethics Code, and also participated in the 1990 revision process. He has also investigated cases of engineers jeopardized as a result of conscientious behavior, and has been involved for many years in developing methods for supporting such individuals. He is the author of Controlling Technology: Ethics and the Responsible Engineer. Dr. Unger is a fellow of the AAAS and was a member of the AAAS Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, chairing a subcommittee on national security and scientific information. He has testified publicly on this topic before several bodies. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and received the IEEE USAB Distinguished Contributions to Engineering Professionalism Award for 1987. He served on the IEEE Board of Directors and chaired the IEEE Ethics Committee for two years.