He is also the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (a post which he has held since March 2002) of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, and the Director of the Photonic Technology and Engineering Center (PhoTEC) (since January 1997), both of which are attached to UTD.
He has been a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) since 1985, and was one of about 3,000 IEEE members to receive their Third Millennium Medal in 2000.
He has authored or co-authored over a hundred papers, and is also the author of the textbook Modern Mathematical Methods for Physicists and Engineers, published by Cambridge University Press in 2000.
His daughter Sarah Marple-Cantrell (1990 - 2003) committed suicide at school, at the age of twelve.