Computing Educators Oral History Project

Location(s) where grew up: Reno, NV USA; Lahore, Pakistan for two years; Carson City, NV USA

Location(s) for post-secondary education: B.A. (cum laude) (1973), M.S. (1974), and Ph.D. (1980) in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA USA

Location(s) where employed: Assistant professor of Computer Science at Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA USA; Visiting lecturer in computer science at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA USA; Eugene Lang Visiting Professor for Social Change at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA USA; various positions at Stanford University in Menlo Park, CA, including Charles Simonyi Professor for Innovation in Teaching, Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Computer Science, Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the School of Engineering, Chair of the Faculty Senate, Professor (Teaching) of Computer Science, Faculty Director for Interdisciplinary Science Education, Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, and John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn University Fellow in Undergraduate Education

Career stage when interviewed: Professor of computer science at Stanford University

Areas of interest: Computer science education, programming languages, programming environments, multiprocessor systems, social implications of computing, science education for nonscientists

Highlights: Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (2008); Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2005); Hoagland Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2004); ACM SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education (2003); Dinkelspiel Award (1998); Perin Award for Undergraduate Engineering Education (1995); Bing Fellowship (1993-1995);

Interviewed July 7, 2009 by Barbara Boucher Owens