Cornell Computing and Information Science: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|InformationAcademic science programunit at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, US}}

{{Third-party|date=November 2022}}{{Primary sources|date=November 2022}}

{{Infobox university

| name = Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science

| image = Bill & Melinda Gates Hall at Cornell University.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Bill & Melinda Gates Hall

| other_name = Cornell Computing and Information Science

| established = {{start date and age|2020}} <!-- announced Dec 2020 -->

| type = [[Private college|Private]]

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| state = [[New York (state)|New York]]

| country = U.S.

| coordinates = {{coord|42|26|42|N|76|28|51|W|region:US-NY_type:edu|display=title}}

| undergrad = 0 <small>(see article)</small>

| postgrad undergrad = 02,430 <small>(see article)</small>

| postgrad = 875 <small>(see article)</small>
| faculty = {{ubl|6272 (computer science)|4235 (information science)|1821 (statistics and data science)}}

| dean = [[Kavita Bala]]

| affiliations = [[Cornell University]]

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}}

The '''Cornell University Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science''' (officiallyformerly the '''Cornell Ann S. Bowers CollegeFaculty of Computing and Information Science'''; from 1999 to 2020), also known as '''Cornell BowersComputing CISand Information Science'''), is the umbrella name for the the informationa sciencetri-department programunit at [[Cornell University]], a private university based in [[Ithaca, New York|Ithaca]],. [[NewIt Yorkconsists (state)|Newof York]]the departments of Computer Science, UnitedInformation StatesScience, and Statistics and Data Science.

TheAccording college comprises the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Information Science, and the Department of Statistics and Data Science.<ref name="cis-departments">{{cite web | url=https://cis.cornell.edu/about/departments | title=Departments | publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS | access-date=November 12, 2022 }}</ref> However, asto Cornell computer science professor [[David Gries]] has explained, "essentially it's a college without students,"<ref name="OHCS-Constable" /> with students instead being admitted to, and coming from, three of Cornell's regular undergraduate schools: the [[Cornell University College of Engineering|College of Engineering]], the [[Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences|College of Arts and Sciences]], and the [[New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University|College of Agriculture and Life Sciences]].<ref name="cis-undergrad">{{cite web | url=https://cis.cornell.edu/students/undergraduate-opportunities | title=Undergraduate Opportunities | publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS | access-date=November 12, 2022 }}</ref> A variety of degree programs are offered through the college, depending upon the department within the college and the originating college the student is in; the degrees granted include [[Bachelor of Arts]] and [[Bachelor of Science]]; [[Master of Science]], [[Master of Engineering]], and [[Master of Professional Studies]]; and [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]].<ref name="cis-departments">{{cite web |title=Departments |url=https://cis.cornell.edu/about/departments |access-date=November 12, 2022 |publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS}}</ref> In addition, students from any of Cornell's seven different undergraduate schools can [[Academic minor|minor]] in computer science or in information science.<ref name="cis-undergrad" />

== History ==

By 2022, there were 2,000&nbsp;students taking majors in the college,<ref name="tompkweek-2022" /> and 76&nbsp;percent of all undergraduate students were taking at least one course in CIS.<ref name="ithtimes-2022" /> The college is located in Bill & Melinda Gates Hall near the Engineering Quadrangle on the [[Cornell Central Campus]] in Ithaca, New York.<ref name="cis-rfs">{{cite web | url=https://cis.cornell.edu/faculty-staff/resources-faculty-staff | title=Leadership | publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS | access-date=November 12, 2022 }}</ref> A new building is planned to help accommodate the rapidly increasing enrollments in CIS subjects.<ref name="ithvoice-2022" /> The inaugural dean of the college is [[Kavita Bala]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cis.cornell.edu/about-college/dean-kavita-bala

| title=Dean Kavita Bala | publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS | access-date=November 11, 2022 }}</ref>

=== Faculty of Computing and Information Science ===

The college came out of the '''Faculty of Computing and Information Science''', which was established in 1999 to unify computer science-related efforts throughout the university.<ref name="chron-constable"/> The initiative, done under the university presidency of [[Hunter R. Rawlings III]], overcame early opposition from many professors in both the Engineering and Arts schools.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://cis.cornell.edu/great-panel-cis-20th-anniversary-event-recalls-ciss-controversial-creation | title=Great Panel at CIS 20th Anniversary Event Recalls CIS's Controversial Creation | publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS | date=October 2019 | access-date=November 23, 2022}}</ref> The new faculty's first dean was [[Robert L. Constable]], a longtime professor of computer science at Cornell who specialized in connecting computer programs with mathematical proof systems.<ref name="chron-constable"/> The idea of the entity, which Constable had been one of the primary advocates for, was to elevate [[computer science]] from the department level to the college level;<ref name="OHCS-Constable">{{cite interview |last=Constable |first=Robert L. |subject-link= |interviewer=David Gries |title=A Conversation with Robert L. Constable |work=An Oral History of Computer Science |date=July 21, 2015 |publisher= Cornell University Library |___location= |url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/40560 }} See segments at 2:05 and 31:25.</ref> this was seen as critical given the field's increasingly widespread importance to nearly every area of study at the university.<ref name="ap-fcis-gates"/> Furthermore, the [[information science]] side of the faculty would focus on how computer-related technology was affecting society and the world.<ref name="chron-bowers"/>

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The final dean of the faculty was Kavita Bala, who had been chair of the department of computer science and was named to the position in 2020.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=Kavita Bala Named New Dean of Computing and Information Science |url=https://www.cs.cornell.edu/information/news/newsitem11212/kavita-bala-named-new-dean-computing-and-information-science|date=June 5, 2020|publisher=Cornell University}}</ref> Then when the college was created later that year, she became the first dean of it.<ref name="chron-bowers"/>

=== Formation of the college ===

Creation of the college came in December 2020 with a more-than-$100&nbsp;million donation from [[Ann_Bowers|Ann S. Bowers]].<ref name="chron-bowers">{{cite news | url=https://infosci.cornell.edu/information/news/newsitem1000/gift-ann-s-bowers-59-creates-new-college-computing-and-information | title=Gift from Ann S. Bowers '59 Creates New College of Computing and Information Science | author-first=Melanie | author-last=Lefkowitz | work= Cornell Chronicle | publisher=Cornell University | date= December 17, 2020 }}</ref>

Bowers, a liberal arts alumnus of Cornell, had been the head of personnel at [[Intel]] during a period of rapid growth in the early 1970s; subsequently married [[Robert Noyce]], the cofounder of Intel; was vice president for human resources at [[Apple Computer]] in the early 1980s; and later became a philanthropist who chaired the [[Noyce Foundation]] following her husband's death.<ref>{{cite book | title=The Man Behind the Microchip: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley | author-last=Berlin | author-first=Leslie | year= 2005 | publisher =Oxford University Press | ___location=New York | pages=230, 231, 253, 306 }}</ref> She had frequently donated to Cornell in the past.<ref name="chron-bowers"/>

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Graduate student programs in the college take place both in Ithaca and at the [[Cornell Tech]] campus in New York City.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://cis.cornell.edu/future-students/graduate-opportunities | title=Graduate Opportunities | publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS | access-date=November 12, 2022 }}</ref>

By 2022 there were 62 full-time faculty members in the Department of Computer Science, with 49 in Ithaca and 13 in New York City.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.cs.cornell.edu/information/about | title=Welcome to Computer Science at Cornell University | author-first=Éva | author-last=Tardos | publisher=Department of Computer Science, Cornell University | access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref> There were 42 full-time faculty in the Department of Information Science,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://infosci.cornell.edu/about | title=About | date=8 January 2018 | publisher=Department of Information Science, Cornell University | access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref> and 18 tenure or tenure-track positions in the Department of Statistics and Data Science.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://apps.hr.cornell.edu/recruiting/facultyview.cfm?posting_id=_JOB_POSTING-3-46696 | title=Associate or Full Professor of the Department of Statistics and Data Science; Ithaca, New York | publisher=Human Resources, Cornell University | access-date=January 28, 2023}}</ref> By 2022, there were 2,000&nbsp;students taking majors in the college,<ref name="tompkweek-2022" /> and 76&nbsp;percent of all undergraduate students were taking at least one course in CIS.<ref name="ithtimes-2022" /> The college is located in Bill & Melinda Gates Hall near the Engineering Quad on the [[Cornell Central Campus]] in Ithaca, New York.<ref name="cis-rfs">{{cite web |title=Leadership |url=https://cis.cornell.edu/faculty-staff/resources-faculty-staff |access-date=November 12, 2022 |publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS}}</ref> A new 135,000 square-foot building is scheduled to open in 2025 <ref>https://cis.cornell.edu/new-building</ref> to help accommodate the rapidly increasing enrollments in computing and information science subjects.<ref name="ithvoice-2022" />

The inaugural dean of the college is [[Kavita Bala]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Dean Kavita Bala |url=https://cis.cornell.edu/about-college/dean-kavita-bala |access-date=November 11, 2022 |publisher=Cornell Bowers CIS}}</ref> Dean Bala has been named Cornell's 17th provost.<ref>https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/09/kavita-bala-dean-cornell-bowers-cis-named-provost</ref> She will begin this role on January 1, 2025. Thorsten Joachims, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of computer science and information science, will serve as interim dean of Cornell Bowers CIS. <ref>https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/09/kavita-bala-dean-cornell-bowers-cis-named-provost</ref>

== Rankings ==

Cornell has long had one of the top-ranked computer science programs in the nation.<ref name="cdsun-111578">{{cite news | url=https://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/imageserver.pl?oid=CDS19781115&getpdf=true | title=Computer Dept. Wins Prominence Throughout U.S. | author-first=Michael | author-last=Palazzo | newspaper=The Cornell Daily Sun | date=November 15, 1978 | pages=1, 10, 11 }}</ref> It placed in a tie for sixth overall in the [[U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Ranking]]s for 2022, with specialty rankings of third in [[Theoretical computer science|theory]], third in [[Programming language theory|programming languages]], tied for fifth in [[artificial intelligence]], and twelfth in [[computer systems]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/computer-science-rankings?_sort=rank-asc | title=Best Computer Science Schools | work=U.S. News & World Report | date=2022 | access-date=October 29, 2022}} See "More Rankings" button for specialty rankings.</ref>

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{{Cornell}}

{{coord missing|New York (state)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell Bowers CIS}}

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[[Category:Engineering schools and colleges in the United States]]

[[Category:Engineering universities and colleges in New York (state)]]

[[Category:Computer science institutes]]

[[Category:Computer science departments in the United States]]