Cornell Computing and Information Science: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:33, 25 November 2022

Revision as of 22:34, 25 November 2022

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==History==

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 faculty members 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"/> According to one faculty member, "Cornell was a pioneer in setting up the CIS structure. A number of other institutions have followed."<ref name="ithtimes-2022"/>

[[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 ]]

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In 2005, the Department of Statistical Science was incorporated into the faculty.<ref>{{cite book | chapter-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 | isbn=9781461436492 }} 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> which opened in 2014.<ref name="ithvoice-2022"/> Other CIS facilities include [[Cornell University Center for Advanced Computing|Rhodes Hall]],<ref name="ithvoice-2022"/> as well as Malott Hall.<ref name="cis-departments"/>

Constable would 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"/> He was succeeded as dean by [[Daniel P. Huttenlocher]].<ref name="chron-legs">{{cite news | url=https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/02/new-dean-says-cis-has-more-legs-stand | title=From the new dean: CIS has more legs to stand on | author-first=Bill | author-last=Steele | work=Cornell Chronicle | date=February 17, 2010 }}</ref>

According to Cornell faculty members and administrators, the Faculty of Computing and Information Science was a "pioneer" in devising this structure, and other universities have since emulated aspects of it.<ref name="ithtimes-2022"/><ref name=":0"/> In particular, other institutions began tying computer science and information science more closely together.<ref name="chron-legs"/> Huttenlocher took the interdisciplinary approach of the Faculty of Computing and Information Science to his next position, at [[Cornell Tech]], and then in the late 2010s he became the first dean of the [[MIT Schwarzman College of Computing]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], which also emphasized an interdisciplinary perspective that emphasized the impacts of computing technology on society.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.mit.edu/2019/dan-huttenlocher-named-inaugural-mit-schwarzman-college-of-computing-dean-0221 | title=Dan Huttenlocher named inaugural dean of MIT Schwarzman College of Computing | author-first=Rob | author-last=Matheson | publisher=MIT News Office | date=February 21, 2019 }}</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 in the United States|double major]]s 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 | s2cid=1161329 }} At p. 71.</ref> Indeed, by 2020 some 43&nbsp;percent of students majoring in CIS were female, a figure well above typical for the United States.<ref name="chron-bowers"/>