Geoffrey Charles Orsak (born May 26, 1963)[2] is a native of Schenectady, New York who went to Houston and entered Rice University, where he earned BS, MS and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering.
In 1997, he moved to Dallas, and joined the faculty at Southern Methodist University (SMU) as Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
He received one grant in 1991-2 of $19,102 from the National Science Foundation for a project titled "Efficient Algorithms for the Design of Systems with non-Gaussian Inputs.
"[5] In 1997, he left GMU for Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he was hired as an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
He gave a detailed analysis of his conclusions in a guest editorial to the professional journal of the Institute for Engineering Education at SMU in 2003.
[7] [a] He concluded that the country's traditional approach to technical and scientific education was unsuitable, if it wished to meet its domestic policy goals and also maintain a leading position in technology.
He was also credited with setting up three centers and institutes: After serving SMU as a dean for eight years, Orsak was appointed as the 18th president of the University of Tulsa (TU), replacing Steadman Upham, who had already announced his retirement.
He had been a long-time supporter of STEAM education,[b] In 1999, he was involved in promoting the Infinity Project, which was intended to increase student interest in engineering.
He has also appeared in numerous stories in the media on education and innovation in sources such as USA Today, Discovery Channel, MSNBC, CBS Early Show, AIArchitect, Austin American Statesmen and Dallas Morning News.