Barry L. Shoop received the B.S. degree from the Pennsylvania State University and Ph.D. from Stanford University, both in electrical engineering.

Earlier in his career, he was a satellite communication engineer responsible for the design and installation of a high-capacity, global digital communication networks, and also the Chief Technology Officer for a US$4.5B organization addressing the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) challenge worldwide.

Shoop became Dean of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering in January 2019 after retiring as a Brigadier General from a 38-year career in the U.S. Army. For the last 25 years, he served in a number of key leadership roles at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, including Director of the Photonics Research Center, Director of the Electrical Engineering Program, and most recently as Professor and Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

He is a Fellow of IEEE, OSA, and SPIE and a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Eta Kappa Nu, and Sigma Xi. He has served on the Board of Directors of OSA, ABET, and IEEE. In 2016, Dr. Shoop served as the IEEE President and CEO. In 2008, OSA recognized him with the Robert E. Hopkins Leadership Award and, in 2013, he received both the SPIE Educator Award and the IEEE Haraden Pratt Award. Dr. Shoop holds a patent on photonic analog-to-digital conversion and has authored over 150 archival publications as well as eight books and book chapters. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA.