<p>The Turing award is often considered as the Nobel prize in computer science.</p>
<p>From the wiki link you can see Chicago lags (with a respectable 4) in the recipients to some well known tech powerhouses - MIT, Standford, CMU, Berkeley, etc. Harvard and Princeton did well too. It is also interesting to see all of its four winners had left the university many decades ago.</p>
<p>However if you consider the math Chicago is a powerhouse with many Fields Medalists. There are even two of them on the faculty now.</p>
<p>Maybe there is a relationship between the strength of a department and the number of winners in its discipline. </p>
<p>What do you think?</p>
<p>Computer science (and engineering) is arguably one of the driving forces in our current world. It seems Chicago is not at the forefront of this discipline - even it is very good at it.</p>
<p>Why do you think it should improve, or wants to improve its position?</p>
<p>University presidents set the priorities for how they want to spend their recruiting dollars and how to endow the professorships that attract the luminaries in a given discipline. </p>
<p>The U of C has historically been a place of theory and pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. There is no engineering department of any kind (including computer science engineering). There has been a modest CS department for many years, but it has apparently not been a priority for the University. </p>
<p>US NEWS graduate program ranking is just an indicator - may not be the perfect one but it says something.</p>
<p>IMO Chicago is not in the same league as others mentioned before regarding computer science and engineering. I understand Chicago does not have an engineering school, which has been discussed by many previous threads. But lacking a truly engineering school does not mean that it is not able to have a top-notch computer science program. Computer science (at least) itself is closer to math than, say, chemical engineering. Many Turing awards have been rewarded to theoretical computer scientists. In that regard Chicago should be able to play a more important and broader role in that discipline.</p>
<p>I hope the university can set a priority on computer science program - even more theoretical than practical is acceptable. </p>
<p>eddi- Several months ago I posted the comments below in a thread similar to this one. </p>
<p>"1. UChicago students are not computer science majors in the normal sense, somewhat vocationally focused on programming skills. They are students at the UChicago obtaining one of the most rigorous undergraduate educations possible among a cohort of brilliant students. They are likely to use the skills obtained in an as yet unknown way, branching out and make a living in the other areas of interest augmented by his CS knowledge and skills.
2. UChicago does not have departments which are not among the top in the U.S. and / or the World. If the UChicago is not in the top 10 right now for CS, they will be. They simply have too many resources and too many brilliant students as well as (critical) the philosophical bent to be the best in every field they offer. They will get to the top or near the top if they are not there already.
3. The new Provost is a strong indicator, in my opinion, of what the future commitment of the University to CS will be. A physicist and former CEO of Argonne National Lab (managed by UChicago), Professor Isaacs was a founder of the Computational Institute at Argonne as well as a member of the group which conceptualized the new Molecular Engineering Institute. The evidence strongly points to Provost Isaacs and UChicago strongly promoting the growth of CS.
4. There are tremendous synergies to be found at the UChicago between CS and other departments / institutes. Aside from obvious synergies between quantitative finance, economics, computational biology, physics / cosmology, basic math there are more direct synergies such as the aforementioned Computation Institute as well as the Quantum Information and Technology specialty within the Molecular Engineering Institute.
5. Booth School of Business. Soon, if not already, expect the aggressive businessmen at Booth to start tracking down these students to help them with business ideas. In the case of my own son, he’s already had informal discussions during his first year with Booth students. There’s nothing specific yet, but I see it as only a matter of time before a connection is made.
6. UChicago CS makes geographical sense. Chicago itself has a fertile computer science employment scene, ranging from quantitative finance to biotech which is clamoring for top CS talent. The city of Chicago is spaced fortuitously between Boston on the East Cost (MIT, Harvard, Princeton), Carnegie Mellon in the Mid-Atlantic, and Stanford and Berkeley on the West coast. It makes sense to have a regional power emerge in the Middle West. I even see the proximity to UIUC as a strength. If both schools are smart, they can compliment each other to create the Midwestern version of Stanford / Berkeley.</p>
<p>In short, I am optimistic that CS at UChicago is already strong, but poised to become much stronger."</p>
<p>In order to make CS better the university needs to bring more and top notch faculty. I have rarely heard the university brings famous CS professors. Maybe they do not want to come? Maybe the department too small?</p>
<p>I think the CS department has good professors but it needs more to compete with other schools with top tier CS program.</p>
<p>Does anyone know the size of computer science department? How about math department?</p>
<p>You know what? It’s easy to look those things up. The departments have websites, and the course catalog is online.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/people[/url]”>http://www.cs.uchicago.edu/people</a> The Computer Science department has about 25 ladder faculty and an equal number of adjuncts, lecturers, and “Toyota Technological Institute Collaborators.” There are 64 PhD students listed, and a smaller number of Masters students, plus another 23 PhD candidates at the Toyota Technological Institute. So in fact it’s not a small CS community at all – much larger than I expected.</p>
<p>The Mathematics department is large and generally considered among the top departments in the country, if not the world, along with Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Berkeley, and Stanford. It’s one of the crown jewels of the university.</p>
<p>@eddi137, you ask. “In order to make CS better the university needs to bring more and top notch faculty. I have rarely heard the university brings famous CS professors. Maybe they do not want to come? Maybe the department too small?”</p>
<p>I think you missed the point of my prior answer. This is an “If you build it, they will come” situation. </p>
<p>If the administration made CS a priority, it is highly likely that the rise you wish for would probably happen. Its a rich, successful university. If this department is lagging behind others, to me that says that there is not a critical mass of leaders who prioritize changing it. If you really care to try and change the U of C, consider who is the chair of the CS department, who is the chair of the math dept, etc. Those folks (or their bosses) need to put improvement in the CS department on their “5 year plan” to effect the change you are advocating. </p>
<p>Adding to JHS comments. Eddi, yes, my comments pertained strictly to CS. The UChicago math department has historically been one of the great math departments in the Country if not the world. </p>
<p>I am still betting on rapid improvement in the CS department for the reasons stated. There are already indications of excellence and accomplishment in the department such as this news item:</p>
<p>From your sources, UCLA, UIUC, Cornell, Michigan, UT Austin, Yale, USC, and UNC are all ranked higher than U of C for CS yet have fewer Turing award winners. If “better” CS departments have fewer winners, U of C doesn’t really lag in Turing award winners. </p>
<p>The problem, I think, is the ranking is current while the number of Turing award winners is historic.</p>
<p>All of Chicago’s Turing winners had left the university many decades ago. I would think that time CS was in its infancy and could not be very independent of other disciplines (e.g., math). Chicago was great in other disciplines so it generated some winners (like Hamming).</p>
<p>But for the past few decades it has been lagging to others (even with fewer Turing winners).</p>
<p>With the exception of one guy whose affiliation with Chicago was completely unclear, the others all got their undergraduate degrees from Chicago, almost certainly (given their ages) in a field that wasn’t computer science. It looks like no one who was ever a Chicago faculty member or who got a PhD there ever got a Turing Award.</p>
<p>So what? The takeaway is that Chicago has not in recent decades been a leader in computer science, although it certainly seems to be trying to step up its game, and that a rigorous Chicago undergraduate degree is a great base for success in any field.</p>
<p>The other winner had taught at the university for two years - a faculty member long time ago. </p>
<p>I concur “a rigorous Chicago undergraduate degree is a great base for success in any field.”. The weakness (to some extent) here is the CS graduate program (faculty and PhD) IMO.</p>
<p>I hope the recognition of the importance of CS influence these days has swayed the university to put more effort there. I am sort of surprised that CS department has so many people.</p>
<p>The University has historically had a habit of stressing theory over application. This isn’t just a conscious decision on the part of the University administration - there’s a lot of internal pressure that resists change, especially since Chicago has been something of a haven for theorists over the last century.</p>
<p>Students/professors emphasizing theory over practice are scarce - many Turing Laureates work in industry. Even those who strongly stress theory prefer institutions where people are working/can work on applications of theory to practice. So most Turing Award Laureates are at MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, Cornell, etc. For instance, look at Princeton’s record - though Princeton boasts 9 affiliates, only 1 is currently on staff, and nearly all other laureates are alumni who haven’t associated themselves with Princeton after graduating. Theory-based CS programs like Chicago’s and Princeton’s just aren’t going to be as popular as praxis-based ones when it comes to recruiting the best of the best.</p>
<p>Chicago is moving toward a more pragmatic model for some of its departments, as evidenced by its new molecular engineering program. But change at UChicago will come slowly. And considering that Chicago’s CS department holds its own against top state schools that put tons of money into engineering, I’m not entirely convinced that quick change is a necessity. </p>
<p>CS dept adds 5 faculty members and one lecture in summer, and there are advertising for 6 more new faculty openings. It should have about 30+ faculty members in 2015. At this rate, it may move to top 20 anytime soon.</p>
<p>Andrew Chien, former Intel research VP, came to the dept few years ago and started SYSTEMS group, having about 10 faculty in the group now. Looks like the dept is concentrating on Theory, Systems, and AI+Machine learning.</p>
<p>Seats at CS introductory courses 151,152, and 154 are all filled up. They have to add a new section for Discrete Structure for Fall 2014, i.e. CS majors may get doubled already.</p>
<p>Projects in 154 (CS freshman) included writing own C-shell and instant messaging which are often seen as senior projects.</p>
<p>I guess enough evidence that CS will be one of key departments in the near future.</p>
<p>That is very impressive. Are they growing CS department too fast? LOL.</p>
<p>Anyway it does seem the CS is a focus for the university in the near future. Even though Chicago does not have a full-fledged engineering school (many different opinions) it still can make greater impact on computer and bio, which are arguably two most important fields in today’s world.</p>
<p>The best way IMO is to grow organically. e.g., expanding CS from more theoretical to practical (SYSTEMS, Machine learning). Attract more students and graduate more. Eventually it can reach critical mass. I think it is happening. The same can be said for Molecular engineering. </p>
Yes, any university that wants to maintain or gain a competitive edge in research these days should have a good computer science program. A strong CS department needn’t come at the expense of other programs and can complement them very nicely. </p>
<p>Digital humanities, the intersection of computing and the humanities, is a rapidly growing interdisciplinary field. The largest Mellon and NEH grants are increasingly being granted to people looking to integrate technology into their research. There are many examples of some really amazing collaborative efforts between computer scientists and engineers, social scientists, and humanities scholars, and it’s a trend that will certainly continue. </p>
<p>Currently there are 9 CS jobs listed among 319 in total.</p>
<p>An excerpt from one “Associate Professor - Systems” job description:</p>
<p>The Department of Computer Science (cs.uchicago.edu) is the hub of a large, diverse computing community of two hundred researchers focused on advancing foundations of computing and driving its most advanced applications. Long distinguished in theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence, the Department is now building strong systems and machine learning groups. The larger community in these areas at the University of Chicago includes the Department of Statistics, the Computation Institute, the Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC), and the Mathematics and Computer Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory. </p>
<p>It seems the university wants to grow CS and collaborate it with other disciplines and entities to form a greater computing community.</p>
<p>Actually Big Data is a very hot topic these days and Chicago can definitely leverage its superior math and stat strength.</p>
<p>Based on an observation by JHS, UChicago’s UG CS department has grown 6 folds in just 4 years from 10 to 60 in 2015. So, it is unquestionable it will grow further in the near future. One of the reason of the growth is because improvement in employment prospects. Based on my straw poll at the 2014 convocation, all graduates have had job offers from high flying companies like Amazon, Facebook or the like. Some, went on advanced studies.</p>