George Elias Ioup

1939 - 2016

Dr. George Elias Ioup, University Research Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of New Orleans (UNO), died 20 Jan. 2016 after a valiant fight against gastric cancer. Dr. Ioup is survived by his loving wife and research colleague of 51 years, Dr. Juliette W. Ioup, Professor of Physics at UNO; his sister Dr. Georgette L. Ioup, Professor Emeritus of English at UNO; his brother William E. Ioup, retired President of Superior Tree Company in Arkansas; his sisters-in-law Polly W. Horne (Nelson) and Susy W. Paugh; many cousins, nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, friends, and students. Dr. Ioup was born 26 March 1939 in Altoona, PA, and graduated from Altoona High School, where he was selected Alumnus of the Year in 2012. He received a S.B. in Physics from MIT in 1962 and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Florida in 1968. He had a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of Connecticut and taught one year at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. Since 1969 he has been in the Department of Physics at the University of New Orleans, where he directed the dissertation research for more than 10 Ph.D. students, the thesis research for over 30 Master's degree students, and directed over 30 other students in the non-thesis Master's program. He won the Amoco LSU System Distinguished Undergraduate Educator Award in 1976. He was instrumental in developing the Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science, one of the most successful Ph.D. programs at UNO. In 2014, he was awarded the Cooper Mackin Medallion for exceptional service to UNO. He developed and was Director of UNO at Stennis Space Center, where graduate courses in physics, engineering, computer science, and math are taught. This successful program allows many Stennis employees to obtain graduate degrees in physics and engineering. In 2000, he was one of the founders and was instrumental in starting the Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center (LADC) in the Department of Physics at UNO, and made consistent efforts over the last 15 years to keep LADC alive and funded by producing high quality research and publications that try to understand what humans do to the Gulf and its charismatic animals. He retired from the UNO faculty in December 2012, but continued to teach a class every semester, administer grants, do research, and direct graduate students. He co-authored one book, edited one book, and wrote chapters in several other books. He wrote or contributed to more than 85 published journal and proceedings articles, six technical reports, more than 120 published abstracts of papers presented at national or international meetings and 22 at regional meetings and one book review. He was a reviewer for ten journals. Dr. Ioup was active in professional organizations and a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, as well as a member of the American Physical Society, Society of Exploration Geophysicists, Southeastern Geophysical Society (President 1998-99), Optical Society, IEEE Signal Processing Society, IEEE Oceanographic Society, American Geophysical Union, Sigma Xi, and others. He organized various professional meetings and their programs, served on advisory councils, and gave numerous presentations at professional meetings. Dr. Ioup performed research in many areas and held grants from the state of Louisiana, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) at Stennis Space Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Marine Fisheries Service, International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, the Office of Naval Research, and others. His specialty was signal and image processing, which he applied in calculations for the tethered satellite, in underwater acoustics (identification of whales in the Gulf of Mexico from their underwater clicks), image processing (fish videos from the Gulf of Mexico), seismic data and seismic airgun analysis, and other areas. He developed a sequence of five graduate physics signal processing classes at UNO which were very popular with students. He held NASA/ASEE or NRL/ASEE Senior Summer Faculty Fellowships for many summers. Dr. Ioup was a faithful and supporting member of St. George Eastern Orthodox Church in Altoona, PA, and St. Basil Eastern Orthodox Church in Metairie. Friends and relatives also knew him as an avid runner, bicyclist, canoeist, photographer, and nutrition and health expert. A wake will be held at the Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home, 3827 Canal Street, Jan. 25, 7-9 pm. On Jan. 26, there will be a short wake at 10:30 am at St. Basil Eastern Orthodox Church, 3916 Hudson St., Metairie, followed by the funeral service at 11 am. Burial will be in St. Louis Cemetery No. 3, followed by a mercy meal at St. Basil. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Department of Physics, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA 70148; St. Basil Eastern Orthodox Church, 3916 Hudson St, Metairie, LA 70006; St. George Eastern Orthodox Church, 519 58th St, Altoona PA 16602; or a charity of your choice.