Joseph L.A. Hughes has been appointed to the IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) for 2012. Dr. Hughes is a professor and the senior associate chair for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Georgia Tech.

Dr. Hughes was appointed to EAB as a representative of the Technical Activities Board (TAB), another of the major IEEE boards. As president of the IEEE Education Society in 2007 and 2008, he served as a member of TAB. He has also served on IEEE's Accreditation Policy Council and Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities, both of which report to EAB.

Dr. Hughes is currently serving in his fourth year as one of IEEE's members on the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. Commission members chair accreditation visits and make decisions regarding the accreditation of more than 2,000 engineering programs at over 400 institutions in the United States and 20 other countries.

IEEE is the world’s largest professional association dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity, with over 400,000 members worldwide.  Its fields of interest encompass electrical and computer engineering and related technologies. The EAB is one of IEEE's six major boards, reporting to the board of directors, responsible for governing IEEE's activities. It recommends policies on educational matters and implements programs specifically intended to serve the educational pursuits of IEEE members, the engineering and scientific communities, and the general public. These activities encompass university programs and accreditation, continuing education, pre-university programs, and others related to engineering education.