William D. O'Brien, Jr. received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois in 1970 and is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. From 1971 to 1975 he worked with the Bureau of Radiological Health (currently the Center for Devices and Radiological Health) of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Since 1975, he has been at the University of Illinois, where he is the Donald Biggar Willet Professor of Engineering. He also is Professor of Bioengineering, College of Engineering; Professor of Bioengineering, College of Medicine; Professor of Nutritional Sciences, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; Research Professor in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology; and Research Professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory. He is the Director of the Bioacoustics Research Laboratory. His research interests involve the many areas of ultrasound-tissue interaction, including biological effects and quantitative ultrasound imaging for which he has published 282 papers as of March, 2004. The development and understanding of acoustic imaging and interaction concepts in medicine, biology and other materials contribute to the Beckman theme area of Biological Intelligence.
Honors: U of I College of Engineering's Engineering Council Award for Excellence in Advising (2004); Distinguished Service Award for 2003 from the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society; Donald Biggar Willet Professor of Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois (2003-present); The IEEE Third Millennium Medal (2000); IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society's Achievement Award for 1998; IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society Distinguished Lecturer (1997-1998).