Sir Eric Ash is an electrical engineer who has specialized primarily in electron optics and ultrasonics. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Imperial College in 1948 and received his Doctor in Science degree in 1952 from Imperial, working with Denis Gabor. After holding a Fulbright fellowship at Stanford, Ash returned to London in 1954 where he did research on microwave tubes and acousto-electronics at the Standard Telecommunications Laboratory (STL) from 1955 through 1963. In 1963 he became a professor of electrical engineering at University College in London, continuing his ultrasonics research there; in 1985 Ash became Rector of Imperial College. He is currently retired.