Dear friends and colleagues,

As we emerge from a long and challenging winter quarter, I am eager to welcome the first signs of spring and highlight what we have accomplished at Northwestern CS. With the rollout of the vaccine and three million people per day receiving it, perhaps the light is finally visible at the end of the tunnel.

As you will read, we continue to have thoughtful conversations about the ways in which computer science technologies and engineering platforms shape our lives. Last month we welcomed Coded Bias filmmaker Shalini Kantayya for a conversation about the bias that exists in the algorithms that impact us all. Professor Josiah Hester is working with an interdisciplinary team of Northwestern researchers to strengthen resilience and address challenges faced by Ojibwe Nations. In addition, we hosted a number of influential researchers for events and workshops via Zoom.

Our community continues to grow. This spring we welcome three new teaching-track faculty and two new staff members. We had a robust and competitive PhD admission cycle and will have 28 new PhD students joining us in fall 2021. Searches for tenure-track faculty continue as well. Stay tuned for further announcements.

Finally, I want to congratulate our faculty and students who have recently received several well-deserved honors and awards.

I hope you are all staying healthy and safe, and I am hopeful for the prospect of seeing each other in person again soon.