UIC Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Internationally acclaimed professor, researcher and author, world traveler and avid golfer, Dr. Tadao (Tad) Murata passed away peacefully on May 22, 2021, at the age of 82. Dr. Murata was born in Takayama, Japan on June 26, 1938 and has been a resident of Elmhurst since 1972. He was an international authority on the theory and applications of Petri nets – a model for studying computer systems that work concurrently. After earning the B.S degree in Electrical Engineering from Tokai University in Tokyo in 1962, he earned the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1964 and 1966, respectively. In 1966, Dr. Murata joined the faculty of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where he served on faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science for 50 years. He devoted much of his time and energy to research in the field of Petri nets as well as mentoring graduate students and new faculty. In 2002, he received the honorific title of “UIC Distinguished Professor.” The Distinguished Professor title was created to recognize and honor full professors who have made a significant impact upon their field through scholarship, creativity, and leadership. He was very proud to receive this high honor.
During occasional leaves of absence from the University of Illinois, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Tokai University in Tokyo, and at bOsaka University (as Endowed Hitachi-Chair Professor for 1993-94) in Toyonaka. Also, he was invited to visit Dr. C. A. Petri’s Institute at GMD, mbH, Germany, and several research institutes and universities in Europe.
Dr. Murata won numerous awards, including a Distinguished Faculty (Senior University Scholar) award from the President of the University of Illinois in 1990, the 1991 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Donald G. Fink Prize Award, Golden Core Charter Member of the IEEE Computer Society on the occasion of the Society’s 50th anniversary in 1996, and a Faculty Research Award from the UIC College of Engineering in 1998. In 2000, he was chosen as the first recipient of the Carl Adam Petri Distinguished Technical Achievement Award by the Society for Design & Process Science (SDPS).
Dr. Murata has published extensively in the field of Petri net theory and its application, especially to software engineering, soft computing, and the modeling and analysis of concurrent and/or distributed systems, logic- and rule-based AI systems. Dr. Murata’s 1989 award-winning paper “Petri Nets: Properties, Analysis and Applications” published in the Proceedings of the IEEE, is one of the most highly referenced papers in the field of Petri nets. He has been awarded several National Science Foundation (NSF) grants since 1976.
Dr. Murata has been invited to give lectures at worldwide conferences as well as serving as chairman and conference organizer for conferences in his field. He served on the U.S. National Academy of Science/Computer Science and Technology Board as well an editor for the IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, for which he received an IEEE Computer Society’s Meritorious Service Award, as well as an associate editor for Journal of Circuits, Systems and Computers.
Dr. Murata was a Life Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE), and a member of the Special Interest Group on Petri Nets and Related Systems Models, Gesellshaft fur Informatik, Germany. He is listed “Who’s Who in America,” among other publications.
Besides a prolific and illustrious career, Dr. Murata was a world-traveler. One of his desires before coming to the USA was to travel and see the world. Dr. Murata accomplished that goal. His travels have taken him to approximately 85 countries and all seven continents. One of the highlights of his travels was a 24-day trip around-the-world by private jet in 2008. He also traveled extensively as an invited lecturer and conference speaker. His last international trip was a cruise around Ireland with his daughter Emi in 2019, which they both enjoyed very much.
Dr. Murata was also an avid and accomplished golfer, earning numerous golf trophies and achieving three holes-in-one! After retirement he golfed almost every day. He was a regular at Sugar Creek Golf Course and played at numerous local courses as well as in Arizona, Nevada, Jamaica, Japan and Taiwan.
Dr. Murata lived a full life and pursued his passions with excellence, from research to travel to golf. Dr. Murata was preceded in death by his wife Nellie. He is survived by his daughters Emi (husband, Nick) and Theresa, and his grandchildren, Natasia and Sophia.
Funeral service and interment held privately. A Memorial Service will be held virtually at a later date. To post an online condolence and/or picture and sign the guest book please visit the funeral home website at pedersenryberg.com/obituary/dr-tadao-tad-murata
