Joseph C. Palais received the B.S.E.E. degree from the University of Arizona, Tucson, in 1959 and the M.S.E. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1962 and 1964 respectively.
He is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) where he has been teaching since 1964. Professor Palais has worked as a Microwave Engineer for Motorola and for Stanford Research Institute. He has been a consultant to several firms, including Sperry Flight Systems, Sylvania, and Polaroid. In 1967 he was awarded a Ford Foundation Residency in Engineering Practice. As part of the award he spent a year with Sylvania's Electro-Optics Organization. In 1973 he served as a Visiting Associate Professor at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. He has published over 70 journal articles, conference presentations, and book contributions. He has done research in the areas of antennas, microwaves, holography, fiber optic communication, and optical education. He is the author of the textbook Fiber Optic Communications (Prentice-Hall,1992, 3rd ed.) He has also co-authored the software manual, Fiber Optic Systems and Devices with Microcomputer Software, with D. Johnson, Kern International, Inc., 1987. In addition he has written sections on fiber optics for Magill's Survey of Science: Applied Science., Salem Press, 1993 and The Electrical Engineering Handbook, edited by R.C. Dorf, CRC Press, 1993. He has presented short courses on fiber optic communications to over 100 groups since 1977.
Dr. Palais is a Fellow of the IEEE, elected for contributions to university and continuing education, primarily in the area of fiber optic communications. In recognition of his contributions to continuous education (particularly in the area of fiber optics), he received the IEEE Educational Activities Board Meritorious Achievement Award in Continuing Education in 1993. Dr. Palais was presented the IEEE Phoenix Section 1974 Annual Achievement Award for Contributions to Education, Academic and Industrial Research, and IEEE Technical Activities.