By Vignesh Ramachandran

In a way, things have come full circle for Professor John M. Pauly. The School of Engineering professor who was once a Stanford student himself was recognized by current students at this June’s commencement for inspiring the next generation.

Pauly, the Reid Weaver Dennis Professor in the Electrical Engineering department, earned his PhD at Stanford in 1990. On June 15, he accepted the 2024-25 Teaching Award presented by the Stanford chapter of the national engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi.

“This is something the students awarded and that makes it really very special,” Pauly said.

The award, given each year at commencement, honors a School of Engineering faculty member who has displayed exemplary teaching, superior mentorship, and notable contributions to engineering education. Each spring, Tau Beta Pi pending candidates and members submit names of professors they believe should be recognized. Students noted Pauly’s mentorship and dedication to teaching.

“Every year, Tau Beta Pi members and candidates nominate faculty who have touched their lives and made an impact on their Stanford journey,” Tau Beta Pi board members said in a statement. “It is a way for members to appreciate their professors who have made a significant impact on their lives.”

Pauly, whose research interests include medical imaging, teaches several courses, including a seminar for first-year students about wireless communication and a Sophomore College class, Dream It, Build It!, that explores hands-on applications for electrical engineering. Naomi Mo, Electrical Engineering, BS ’25, MS ’26, said that sophomore course was her first electrical engineering course at Stanford, and Pauly left quite an impact.

“The gentlest of souls; he’s a person just overflowing with wisdom and kindness,” Mo noted. “The passion with which he teaches, the patience with which he helps students, and the dedication with which he goes the extra mile to teach and advise beyond the classroom are all reflective of what a Stanford professor ought to be. I love just popping by his office with questions about school or life in general. He’s a wonderful sounding board and I think the EE department is made better because of him and his influence.”

Pauly’s teaching style is rooted in his own student days at Stanford that he said were filled with supportive faculty who paid a lot of attention to students, including his then-advisor, Professor Al Macovski.

“He got people to really believe in themselves, commit to their ideas and try to make things work,” Pauly said. “I try to get the students to figure out what they really want to do and help them do it – whatever that might be.”

Pauly hopes his students are inspired to see that electrical engineering can be applied to many sectors in the modern world. His former students may be a testament to that: Some have gone on to become engineers for large companies, while others have applied skills toward computer animation, medical school, graduate programs, or starting their own ventures.

“Electrical engineering is applicable to so many different things – almost any system you build, somewhere at the center of it are embedded systems, intelligence, communications,” Pauly said. “It’s just one of the key technologies across just about everything you encounter in life right now.”

Excerpted from Stanford School of Engineering, 'Tau Beta Pi announces 2025 Teaching Award and Teaching Honor Roll'