David Jiles is stepping down as the electrical and computer engineering department chair this summer after being accepted into the Jefferson Science Fellowship in Washington D.C.

He will be “establishing a new model for engaging the American academic science, technology, engineering and medical communities in the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy,” according to the Jefferson Science Fellowship website.

Jiles was hired as a member of the ISU faculty in 1984 and left in 2005 to teach at Cardiff University as a professor of magnetics until 2010, when he returned to Iowa State to be the department chair of electrical and computer engineering.

Jiles was named the Anston Marson Distinguished Professor of Engineering as well as the Palmer Endowed Department Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering, according to his online biography. Jiles believes his success is because Iowa State is such a great place.

“I am very proud of Iowa State,” Jiles said. “If you put the right person in the right environment, they will do well.”

This success is evident in all of the accomplishments he’s made during his time at Iowa State.

Jiles said he had the vision to “increase the research profile” of the department, which he said he believes they achieved with the “great facility” the department has.

He wrote three books at Iowa State that are currently used for classes taught in the department. He also spoke fondly of his Ph.D students.

“You cannot succeed in this game without great students,” Jiles said. “It’s impossible.”

The success is clearly evident in the doctor’s acceptance into this government program. Jiles will be in Washington D.C. for 12 months but will remain on the ISU faculty. He will return in August 2017.

“This is going to give me the opportunity to do something different … to see how science and technology can be used to influence foreign policy,” Jiles said. 

The Jiles family seems to have left a legacy at Iowa State, with three of Jiles’ four children now fellow Cyclones. Jiles’ wife, who is a computer system analyst at Iowa State, will join Jiles in Washington D.C.