• Recruitment and retention of underrepresented students
• Empowering entrepreneurship among engineering students

Education

• Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, 1974, Rutgers University
• M.S. Electrical Engineering, 1970, University of Colorado
• B.A. Electrical Engineering, 1968, University of Colorado

Professional Experience

• 2003 - present, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Student Services, Washington State University.
• 1993 - present, Boeing Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering, WSU.
• 1973 - 1993, Assistant, Associate, Full Professor of Electrical Engineering, WSU.
• 1997-1998, Visiting Scientist, EPRI, Palo Alto, CA.
• 1984 - 1985, Visiting Scientist, ABB Corporate Laboratories, Vasteras, Sweden.
• 1980, NSF Faculty Fellow, GTE Laboratories, Waltham, MA.
• 1971 - 1973, Westinghouse Georesearch Laboratories, Boulder, CA.

Awards

• Fellow of the IEEE.
• 1989, College of Engineering and Architecture Excellence in Research Award.
• 1986 - 1987, Outstanding Professor, Electrical Engineering Department.

Teaching

• Electromagnetism
• Circuits

Selected Publications and Book Sections

• R. G. Olsen and T. D. Bracken, “Shared Use of the Right-of-Way” Chapter in the Book, EPRI AC Transmission Line Reference Book – 200 kV and Above, Third Edition, 2004.
• R. G. Olsen and V. L. Chartier, “Electromagnetic Interference,” Chapter in the Book, EPRI AC Transmission Line Reference Book – 200 kV and Above, Third Edition, 2004.
• R. G. Olsen, M. Istenic and P. Zunko, “On Simple Methods for Calculating ELF Shielding of Infinite Planar Shields,” IEEE Trans. on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. EMC-45, pp. 538 – 547, August 2003 (Selected as one of three best papers for 2003).
• R. G. Olsen and K. S. Edwards, “A New Method to Measure High Voltage Transmission Line Conductor Sag,” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Vol. PWRD-17, pp. 1142 – 1151, October 2002.
• D.B. Phillips, R.G. Olsen and P.D. Pedrow, “Corona Onset as a Design Optimization Criterion for High voltage Electrodes,” IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, Vol. TDEI-7, pp. 744-751, December 2000.
• W. Young, B. Belzer, and R.G. Olsen, “A Two Element Antenna for Null Suppression in Multipath Environments,” IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation Vol. 48, No. 8, pp 1161-1174, August 2000.
• R.G. Olsen, J.L. Young and D.C. Chang, “Electromagnetic Wave Propagation on a Thin Wire Above Earth,” IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation Vol. 48, pp. 1413-1419, September 2000.
• P. Moreno and R.G. Olsen, “A Simple Theory for Optimizing Finite Width ELF Magnetic Field Shields for Minimum Dependence on source Orientation,” IEEE Trans. on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. EMC-39, pp. 340-348, November 1997.
• D.T. Patten, O.P. Ghandi, T. Getty, W.E. Gordon, J.W. Hastings, P. Kareiva, J.C. Lin, R.G. Olsen, J. Pastor, B.J. Rathcke, A. Sastre, L.A. Shepp, “An Evaluation of the U.S. Navy’s Extremely Low Frequency Communications System Ecological Monitoring Program,” National Academy Press, 1997
• R.G. Olsen and P. Moreno, “Some Observations about Shielding Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Fields by Finite Width Shields,” IEEE Trans. on Electromagnetic Compatibility, Vol. 38, pp. 460-468, August, 1996.
• R.G. Olsen and M.C. Willis, “A Comparison of Exact and Quasi-Static Methods for Evaluating Grounding Systems at High Frequencies, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, Vol. 11, pp. 1071-1081, April 1996.
• S. D. Schennum and R. G. Olsen, "A Method for Calculating Wide Band Electromagnetic Interference from Power Line Corona," IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, Vol. 10, pp. 1535- 1540, July 1995.