When Professor David Pulfrey, P.Eng., came to UBC in 1968 as a postdoctoral teaching fellow, he planned to stay only a year. Forty-three years later, he’s retiring from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering after a distinguished career.
Named a Fellow of IEEE (2000) and the Canadian Academy of Engineering (2002), Pulfrey published over 130 refereed articles on semiconductor devices, ranging from solar cells to nanotransistors. The author of three books, he describes them as “a labour of love.” He adds, “My last book on transistors and diodes was a wonderful way to bring closure to my career. I’ve written down everything that I think is important for students to know and for me to refer to when I’ve forgotten what I used to know!”
Pulfrey notes his teaching awards — received at the university, provincial and international levels – as major highlights of his career. “Two of the awards came from completely unsolicited student nominations and were very pleasant surprises,” he says. Department colleague, Professor Emeritus Peter Lawrence adds: “Over his career, David has been very dedicated to the refinement of the classroom learning experience of engineering students. He is known for providing concise, crystal-clear derivations of difficult basic equations and then probing students’ understanding through a series of challenging questions about them.”
Always working “in the trenches” with a small group of graduate students, Pulfrey has become lifelong friends with many. And by maintaining his own technical skills, he has contributed to the work of others during his sabbatical leaves, taken in industry (Canada and England), at universities (Western Australia, Vienna and Santa Barbara, Calif.), and at a national laboratory in France.
Pulfrey has enjoyed working at UBC, and the opportunities to cycle to work here each day and to hike and ski with friends from the department. He plans to continue these activities and to play tennis after retiring on December 31, and he looks forward to seeing his five grandchildren more. “Even though I enjoy my work at UBC and have done so for over 40 years, I feel as if it is time to finish,” Pulfrey says. “It’s better to go when students ask ‘Why are you leaving?’ rather than when they wonder why you’re not!”