Alexander Kusko completed his BSEE at Purdue in 1942 and received both his SMEE and ScD degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He pioneered the application of solid-state power devices to motor drives and switches and has made important contributions in the areas of electric power systems, rotating electrical machinery, power semi-conductor equipment, magnetics, and electric transportation.

Regarded as one of the leading experts in the solid-state drive field, Kusko has been an eminently successful inventor and consultant. He has fourteen patents to his credit and is the author of four books, two of which are widely used as university texts.

A Fellow of IEEE and a lecturer in electrical engineering at MIT, Kusko was named a Purdue Distinguished Engineering Alumnus in 1978.