Remembering Prof. Allen Taflove: A Finite-Difference Time-Domain Pioneer and Educator [In Memoriam]

Prof. Allen Taflove, a pioneer of the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, award-winning educator, and devoted mentor and advisor, died on 25 April 2021 at the age of 71. Prof. Taflove received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, in 1971, 1972, and 1975, respectively. He began his career as a research engineer at IIT Research Institute, Chicago, where he spent nine years before returning to Northwestern to join the faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His 37-year career as a professor at Northwestern was distinguished by groundbreaking research in fundamental FDTD algorithm development and scientific and engineering applications of FDTD across the electromagnetic spectrum.