[Maroon] The Push to Be World Class: A New Direction For the Computer Science Department

“Recent years have seen growing investments in the Department of Computer Science, as new faculty have been hired, new collaborations have been created, and ambitious research centers have been established.  

Conversations with faculty and administrators in the department reveal that these investments are part of a plan to make the Department of Computer Science “world class” by shifting its traditional emphasis on theoretical computer science to strengthen its programs in data science and systems, and collaborate on computational initiatives with other departments at the University and partner institutions.

The origin of the department’s long-standing focus on theoretical computer science lies in its foundation in the 1980s. The Department of Computer Science was started by Robert Soare in 1983, a professor in the Department of Mathematics. Because Soare was a mathematician, there was a strong emphasis on the mathematical and theoretical sides of computer science in the early days of the department, according to John Goldsmith, a professor of computer science and linguistics. “

See the full Chicago Maroon article here.