Dear colleagues and friends of Northwestern Computer Science: As I reflect on the past year, I am eternally grateful for Northwestern University and the McCormick School of Engineering’s support of Northwestern CS. Our programs have expanded quickly and are supported by a rapidly growing team of more than 50 faculty (42 tenure track and 10 teaching track), allowing us to move into new research areas and strengthen existing collaborations and partnerships. Our faculty and staff also support more than 800 CS majors, 100 CS minors, 130 PhD students, and about 180 MS students (MS in CS and MSAI) – many of these programs have doubled in size in just the last five years. Despite the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, we accomplished a lot in 2021, and I am proud to share a few highlights. |
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In collaboration with units outside Northwestern Engineering, we jointly hired faculty that bring expertise in the computational tools to tackle grand challenge problems of societal interest. New Jointly Appointed CS+X Faculty |
(Left to right): Benjamin Golub, Maia Jacobs, Matthew Kay, Annie Liang, V.S. Subrahmanian |
Joint hires and affiliated faculty ensure that computing is integrated into the fabric of the University and allow our students a unique opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research problems across a variety of domains. |
New Core Tenure-Track Faculty
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(Left to right): Emma Alexander, Xinyu Xing
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Thanks to two years of aggressive hiring, we welcomed several new faculty to our department. Emma Alexander and Xinyu Xing joined as tenure-track faculty. |
New Faculty of Instruction
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CS hired 10 new postdoctoral fellows, and several are funded by the highly competitive CI Fellows program that was launched by the Computing Research Association and the Computing Community Consortium last year. They have added greatly to the department’s growing research footprint. |
Courses, Programs, and Events
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| • | This fall, we announced a Data Science Minor for McCormick students in partnership with the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences. | | • | We had a stunning array of speakers this fall. I was delighted to host Marc Tarpenning, cofounder of Tesla, who gave an inspirational talk to our students about his journey (Video). | | • | The IDEAL Institute is building a research community through academic special quarters, workshops, and external visitors. | | • | In partnership with the Kellogg School of Management, we launched a new joint professional master’s program, called MBAi, and welcomed the first cohort of 45 students this fall. |
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Last month, we announced the creation of two IBM-funded chairs in honor of the company’s retired chairman and CEO, Ginni Rometty. Jessica Hullman will hold the first such chair, and we are launching a search for the second chaired position, which will focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
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Thank you for your continued support, and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season. |
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Samir Khuller
Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair and Professor
Department of Computer Science
McCormick School of Engineering |
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© Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University
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