Ezekiel Bahar, longtime faculty member in the College of Engineering and former president of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Faculty Senate, died Feb. 10 in Los Angeles. He was 89.
Bahar’s funeral took place Feb. 12 in Simi Valley, California, where he was laid to rest. He is survived by Ophira, his wife of 65 years, as well as three children and five grandchildren.
Bahar retired as professor emeritus of electrical engineering in 2013 after 46 years in the College of Engineering and moved with his wife to Palm Desert, California.
After receiving Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, Bahar earned a doctorate in 1964 from the University of Colorado. Soon thereafter, he joined the University of Colorado faculty as an assistant professor.
He joined the Department of Electrical Engineering at Nebraska in 1967 as an associate professor. He was promoted to professor in 1971, was named Regents Professor, Durham Professor of Electrical Engineering in 1981, George Holmes Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering in 1989 and University Professor in 1999.
Bahar’s research was world-renowned in the field of electrical engineering, including electromagnetic theory antennas, wave propagation, and microwave theory and techniques. In 1980, he was honored with the university’s Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award and received the College of Engineering’s Research Award twice. He had more than 370 articles published in technical journals, books and encyclopedias.
He was a life fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a reviewer and editor for many prestigious journals and for textbooks.
In the College of Engineering, Bahar was chair of the doctoral committee in electrical and systems engineering. He was a leader in the university’s Faculty Senate after being elected as a member in 1978, also serving on the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (1979-80) before being elected as president in 1980.
He directed the Office of Academic Program Reviews, which prepared guidelines and schedules for university-wide program reviews and was a member of the university’s Academic Planning and Budget Planning committees, the University of Nebraska President’s Intercampus Faculty Advisory Committee, and in 1980 was vice chairman of the university’s chancellor search committee.
In addition to his dedicated service to the college and university, Bahar also had a strong relationship with the Jewish community in Lincoln, where his family were members of Tifereth Israel Synagogue, where he often led services. The Bahar family requests those interested in making a memorial contribution to make it to Tifereth Israel Synagogue or a charity of the donor’s choice.
