Cornell Computing and Information Science: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:31, 13 November 2022

Revision as of 17:17, 13 November 2022

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[[Image:Bill & Melinda Gates Hall at Cornell University.jpg|thumb|right|Bill & Melinda Gates Hall, home of the Faculty of Computing and Information Science following its opening in 2014 ]]

The college came out of the '''Faculty of Computing and Information Science''', which was established in 1999 to unify computer science efforts throughout the university.<ref name="chron-constable"/> 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, given its increasingly widespread importance to nearly every area of study at the university.;<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 Constable wouldwas remainseen as critical given the facultyfield's deanincreasingly forwidespread tenimportance years.<refto name="chron-constable">{{citenearly newsevery |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2008/06/robert-constable-step-down-cis-dean |title=Robert Constable, founding deanarea of computingstudy andat informationthe science,university.<ref will step down in 2009 |firstname=Bill |last=Steele |date=June 11, 2008 |work=Cornell Chronicle | publisher=Cornell University }}<"ap-fcis-gates"/ref>

The Faculty of Computing and Information Science emphasized the value of multidisciplinary studies.<ref name="OHCS-Constable"/> One initiative of the faculty was to support double majors between computer science and a variety of other subjects in any of the Arts, Engineering, or Agriculture schools; this proved successful in increasing the number of women who were computer science majors.<ref>{{cite journal | author-first=Maria | author-last=Klawe | author2-first=Telle | author2-last=Whitney | author3-first= Caroline | author3-last=Simard | title= Women in Computing&mdash;Take 2| journal= Communications of the ACM | volume=52 | number= 2 | date=February 2009 | pages= 68&ndash;76 | doi=10.1145/1461928.1461947 }} At p. 71.</ref> In 2005, the Department of Statistical Science was incorporated into the faculty.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPGJUiUCJZkC&pg=PA49 | chapter=Biometrics and Statistical Science at Cornell | author-first=James G. | author-last=Booth | author2-first=Martin T. | author2-last=Wells | title=Strength in Numbers: The Rising of Academic Statistics Departments in the U. S. | editor-first=Alan | editor-last=Agresti | editor2-first=Xiao-Li | editor2-last=Meng | publisher=Springer | ___location=New York | year= 2013 | pages=39&nbsp;50 }} At p. 49.</ref> A $25&nbsp;million donation from the [[Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation]] in 2006 led to the construction of the building named after couple.<ref name="ap-fcis-gates">{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112997205/ | title=Cornell to build info campus with Gates gift | agency=Associated Press | newspaper= Star-Gazette | ___location=Elmira, New York | date=January 26, 2006 | page=4A | via=Newspapers.com }}</ref>

InConstable 2020would remain as the faculty's dean for ten years.<ref name="chron-constable">{{cite news |url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2008/06/robert-constable-step-down-cis-dean |title=Robert Constable, founding dean of computing and information science, will step down in 2009 |first=Bill |last=Steele |date=June 11, 2008 |work=Cornell Chronicle | publisher=Cornell University }}</ref> When he stepped down from the post, Provost [[Biddy Martin]] said, "Dean Constable has been a pioneer in recognizing that computing has become an essential tool in almost every discipline. By conceiving and bringing to life the idea of a universitywide Faculty of Computing and Information Science, he has helped to make that tool accessible in fields as diverse as history, psychology, architecture and plant science."<ref name="chron-constable"/> The final dean of the faculty was [[Kavita Bala]], who had been chair of the department of computer science, and was named dean ofto the facultyposition 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"/>

Creation of the college came in December 2020 with aan largeover-$100&nbsp;million donation from 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>

An additional new building is planned, helped by a $10&nbsp;million donation from the two founders of [[Wayfair]], both Cornell alumni.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112987588/the-boston-globe/ | title=Cofounders of Wayfair Donate $10 Million to Cornell | newspaper=The Boston Globe | date=September 21, 2021 | page=B6 | via=Newspapers.com }}</ref> 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>

== References ==