N. Narayana Rao

N. Narayana Rao, 88, of Savoy passed away at 2:37 p.m. on Monday, July 13, 2020 at his home surrounded by family. 

Visitation will be held from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at Renner-Wikoff Chapel in Urbana. A private family service will be held and cremation rites will be accorded.

N. Narayana Rao was born on March 2, 1932 in Kakumanau, Andhra Pradesh, India to parents N. Veeriah Chowdary and Mangamma Nallamothu. They proceeded him in death.

On June 10, 1955 Narayana married Sarojini Jonnalaadda in India, she survives. Also surviving are their children, Vanaja Sudhakar of Chicago and Durga (Lakshmi) Rao of Boston and his daughter-in-law Priya Rao of Fort Lauderdale.  His siblings; N. Venkata Krishnaiah, N. Subba Rao, N. Srihari Rao, N.Kishore Babu, M. Mahalakshmi, five grandchildren and one grandchild also survive him. Preceding him in death were one son, one granddaughter, four brothers and his son-in-law.

N. Narayana Rao, Edward C. Jordan Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), came to the United States in 1958 from India, after receiving the B.Sc. degree in Physics from the University of Madras in 1952, having attended the Presidency College, Madras, and the Diploma in Electronics from the Madras Institute of Technology, Chromepet, in 1955. In the United States, he attended the University of Washington and received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering in 1960 and 1965, respectively. He joined the UIUC in 1965 and retired in 2007. During the 42 years of tenure at UIUC, he was engaged in research, teaching, administration, and international activities.

Professor Rao’s research focused on ionospheric propagation. In his teaching, he taught a wide variety of courses in electrical engineering. He developed courses in electromagnetic fields and wave propagation and has published undergraduate textbooks. In administration, he served as Associate Head of the Department for Instructional and Graduate Affairs for 19 years from 1987 to 2006.

Professor Rao is the recipient of numerous awards, many of which reflect his dedication to engineering education. He is a Life Fellow of the IEEE and a Life Member of the ASEE. Professor Rao has been active internationally in engineering education.

He helped establish the Hindu Temple of Champaign-Urbana and was a founding board member.

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