Nirwan Ansari received the B.S.E.E. (summa cum laude, with a perfect gpa) from NJIT, Newark, in 1982, the M.S.E.E. from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1983, and the Ph.D. degree from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, in 1988, respectively.

He joined NJIT's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as Assistant Professor in 1988, tenured Associate Professor in 1993, and has been Full Professor since 1997. He has also assumed various administrative positions including the NJIT Newark College of Engineering's Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. He visited the Department of Information Engineering of the Chinese University of Hong Kong during the 98/99 academic year, and Graduate School of Information Sciences, Tohoku University, Japan, in Fall 2006.

He authored with E.S.H. Hou Computational Intelligence for Optimization (1997), and edited with B. Yuhas Neural Networks in Telecommunications (1994), both published by Springer. His current research focuses on various aspects of broadband networks and multimedia communications. He has contributed over 400 technical papers, over one third in widely cited refereed journals/magazines. For example, one of his works was the sixth most cited article published in the IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, as indicated in the February 2010 EIC's notes. He has also guest edited a number of special issues, covering various emerging topics in communications and networking.

He serves on the Advisory Board of Journal of Communications, and the editorial board of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, Computer Communications, Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, and Journal of Computing and Information Technology. He was also a Senior Technical Editor of the IEEE Communications Magazine and a technical editor of the ETRI Journal. He was the founding General Chair of the First IEEE International Conference on Information Technology: Research and Education (ITRE2003), was instrumental, while serving as its Chapter Chair, in rejuvenating the North Jersey Chapter of the IEEE Communications Society which received the 1996 Chapter of the Year Award and a 2003 Chapter Achievement Award, served as the Chair of the IEEE North Jersey Section and in the IEEE Region 1 Board of Governors for two terms during 2001-2002, and has/had been serving in various IEEE committees such as Cluster Chair of the IEEE COMSOC Networking Technical Committee Cluster, Chair of IEEE COMSOC Tehnical Committee on Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks, and Chair and TPC Chair of numerous conferences/symposia/workshops. He has been frequently invited to deliver keynote addresses, distinguished lectures, tutorials, and talks. Some of his recognitions include a Fellow of the IEEE (Communications Society, Class of 2009), a Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award (2010), a couple of best paper awards (IC-NIDC 2009 and GLOBECOM 2010), the NCE Excellence in Teaching Award (2009), an IEEE MGA Leadership Award (2008), the NJIT Excellence Teaching Award in Outstanding Professionl Development (2008), an IEEE Leadership Award from Princeton/Central Jersey (2007), an IEEE Region 1 Award (1999), the NJIT Excellence Teaching Award in Graduate Instruction (1998), and designation as an IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer (2006-2009, two terms).