Gries, David
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Item A Conversation with Fred SchneiderSchneider, Fred B.; Gries, David (Internet-First University Press, 2015-09-09)Fred Schneider, an expert in concurrent and distributed systems and in computer and cybersecurity, shares insights about how his professional interests evolved, and provides sweeping views about how his field and department have changed.Item A Conversation with Tim TeitelbaumTeitelbaum, Tim; Gries, David (Internet-First University Press, 2015-09-10)A discussion of the teaching of large, introductory courses in programming in the early days-using the Terak and Macintosh computers and the development of integrated programming environments that implement language-aware editing capabilities.Item A Conversation with David GriesGries, David; Constable, Robert L. (Internet-First University Press, 2015-07-21)David Gries joined Cornell in 1969. He was chair of CS in the 1980s and associate dean of engineering for 8 years in the 2000s. His research was on compiler writing and areas related to formal programming methodology. He is known for his texts on programming, on compiler writing (the first such text, in 1971), on the science of programming, and on logic and discrete math. He has two honorary doctorates and four awards from the leading computing societies for contributions to education. He was among the first ten Cornell faculty to receive the Weiss Presidential Fellow award for contributions to undergrad education. He was Chair of the Computer Science Board when it became the CRA (Computing Research Association) and opened an office in Washington to represent the interests of computing in academia. He received the CRA award for service to the computing community. David and Bob talk about David’s time as a grad student at the Munich Institute of Technology and the early days in the Cornell CS Department. Running Time: 51 min. http://hdl.handle.net/1813/40576Item A Conversation with John E. HopcroftHopcroft, John E.; Gries, David (Internet-First University Press, 2015-07-21)This ACM Turing Award recipient talks about research, textbooks, working with graduate students, his role as a senior statesman of his field and concludes with some words of wisdom.Item A Conversation with Richard W. ConwayConway, Richard W.; Gries, David (Internet-First University Press, 2015-07-21)Dick Conway came to Cornell in 1949, as a freshman. He received the first PhD from Operations Research and Industrial Engineering (1958), was instrumental in the creation of the CS Department (1965) and was a founding member, spent two years as the first Director of Cornell’s Office of Computer Services, and later joined the Johnson Graduate School of Management. In all these positions, he made significant contributions. His 1967 co-authored text “Theory of Scheduling” placed the study of production scheduling on a formal foundation. INFORMS lists the book as a landmark in the timeline of Operations Research. He developed and implemented the programming languages CORC (1958) and CUPL (1962). In the 1970’s, he developed and implemented PL/C, with an emphasis on error correction in the compiler, and co-authored a programming text. In the Johnson Graduate School, Dick introduced and implemented the idea of an immersion course, where students took one 15-credit course, “Semester in Manufacturing”, spending half the time visiting manufacturing plants and the other half in the classroom. Dick is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Dick and David Gries discuss the beginnings of CS at and what it was like in the 1970s. Running Time: 58 min. http://hdl.handle.net/1813/40564Item A Conversation with Robert L. ConstableConstable, Robert L.; Gries, David (Internet-First University Press, 2015-07-21)Over 40 years ago, Bob Constable and his students started designing a logical language for specifying programming tasks and mathematical problems. The system, called Nuprl, is known since 1984 for being able to synthesize correct-by-construction programs from formal proofs in constructive type theory. The Nuprl Library holds over 15,000 mathematical theorems, with a database of 450,000 proof steps, dealing with pure mathematics as well as proofs of programs. Bob received the 2014 Herbrand Award for this pioneering research in automated reasoning. Bob was also the leading force in Cornell’s creation of CIS ---the Faculty of Computing and Information Science ---which has helped bring computing and computer science into every Cornell college. Bob served as first dean of CIS for ten years. Bob and interviewer David Gries talk about the old days in CS. Running Time: 47 min. http://hdl.handle.net/1813/40560Item A Conversation with Anil NerodeNerode, Anil; Gries, David (Internet-First University Press, 2014-10-16)Anil Nerode is the Goldwin Smith Professor of Mathematics. He joined the Cornell Math Department in 1959. His interests are in mathematical logic, the theory of automata, computability and complexity theory, the calculus of variations, distributed systems, and artificial intelligence. CS people know him for the very early Myhill–Nerode theorem, which gives necessary and sufficient conditions for a formal language to be regular. Anil has long been a friend of CS. He was acting director of the Center for Applied Math from 1964-1965, when the formation of the CS Department was underway. That put him on the committee that worked to start the CS Department. He was the one who suggested Juris Hartmanis for the first chair of CS and, about 35 years later, he said that Juris “was far and away the best chairman of any department”. In this interview, Anil and interviewer David Gries discuss the start of the CS department. Running Time: 55 min. http://hdl.handle.net/1813/40527