Joseph Palais joined the faculty in 1964 and is the graduate program chair and an Emeritus Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University. He is also academic director of online and professional programs for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He has published a textbook on fiber optics. The book has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Persian. He has contributed chapters to numerous books, written more than 41 research articles in refereed journals, and presented more than 35 papers at scientific meetings. He has presented more than 150 short courses on fiber optics.

His areas of expertise include fiber optic communication, holography and distance learning.