Burks Oakley II is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He also is a Scholar in Residence at the University of Illinois at Springfield.  From 1997 until 2007, Oakley served as an Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois.  He was the founding director of the University of Illinois Online initiative, a program designed to facilitate the development and delivery of University of Illinois courses, degrees, and public service resources over the Internet.  His areas of interest include distance education and educational technologies.  Through his innovative use of technology in teaching, Professor Oakley has earned a national reputation as a practitioner and promoter of Internet-based asynchronous learning environments.