Eric Roberts : An Oral History
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Eric Roberts is a professor emeritus in Stanford’s Department of Computer Science and an internationally renowned expert in the field of computer science education. In this oral history, Roberts reflects on his commitment to computer science education, describing his first faculty position at Wellesley College, his efforts to expand opportunities for women in computer science, and his approach to designing an accessible undergraduate computer science curriculum at Stanford. He describes the challenges that increasing enrollments have created for faculty in computer science, as well as the textbooks he has written, designing innovative general education courses that blend science and literature for Stanford’s Sophomore College, I-Hum and Thinking Matters programs, and a successful collaboration with Bermuda to expose high school students to computing. Additional topics include his family background, his education at Harvard University, his work at Bolt Beranek & Newman (BBN) and DEC Systems Research Center (DEC SRC), and his affiliation with Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. He closes by discussing his decision to retire from Stanford and his recent work at Willamette University.
Description
| Type of resource | moving image, sound recording-nonmusical, text |
|---|---|
| Extent | 2 video files; 2 audio files; 1 text file |
| Place | Stanford (Calif.) |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
| Date created | January 21, 2022 - 2022-02-02 |
| Language | English |
| Digital origin | born digital |
Creators/Contributors
| Interviewee | Roberts, Eric | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Roberts, Eric | |
| Interviewer | Fikes, Richard E. | |
| Publisher | Stanford Historical Society |
Subjects
| Subject | Roberts, Eric |
|---|---|
| Subject | Stanford University. School of Engineering |
| Subject | Stanford University. Computer Science Department |
| Subject | Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility |
| Genre | Interview |
Bibliographic information
| Biographical Profile | After receiving his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University in 1980, Eric Roberts taught at Wellesley College from 1980-85, where he chaired the Computer Science Department. From 1985-90, he was a member of the research staff at Digital Equipment Corporation’s Systems Research Center in Palo Alto, California, where his research focused on programming tools for multiprocessor architectures. In September 1990, Roberts joined the Stanford faculty, where he remained until he retired in 2017. He is now the Charles Simonyi Professor of Computer Science, emeritus, and a Bass University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. He was the 2020–21 Mark and Melody Teppola Presidential Distinguished Visiting Professor at Willamette University and is currently University Professor and Special Assistant to the Executive Director of Computing and Data Science at Willamette. From 1990 to 2002, Professor Roberts was Associate Chair and Director of Undergraduate Studies for Computer Science. In that capacity, he was the principal architect of Stanford’s introductory programming sequence. He has written seven computer science textbooks that are used at many colleges and universities throughout the world. His current research focuses on computer science education, particularly for underserved communities. From 1998 to 2005, Roberts directed the Bermuda Project, which developed the computer science curriculum for Bermuda’s public secondary schools. Professor Roberts has been active in professional organizations dedicated to computer science education. He is a Fellow of both the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He has been a member of the ACM Education Board since 1997 and served as its chair from 2005 to 2007. From 1998 to 2001, Roberts served as co-chair and principal editor for the ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula 2001, which published a detailed set of curriculum guidelines in December 2001. He also chaired the ACM Java Task Force from 2003 to 2007. Professor Roberts has also been active in several organizations seeking to promote socially responsible use of science and technology, including Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and Student Pugwash USA. In 2000, Roberts was the Eugene M. Lang Visiting Professor for Social Change at Swarthmore College. While at Stanford, Professor Roberts has received several university-level teaching awards, including the Bing Fellowship, established “to recognize excellence in teaching and a committed interest to the teaching of undergraduates”; the Dinkelspiel Award, which recognizes “distinctive and exceptional contributions to undergraduate education”; and the Laurance and Naomi Carpenter Hoagland Prize, awarded for excellence in undergraduate teaching. In January 2002, Roberts was named one of the first eight University Fellows in Undergraduate Education, which are designed “to reward faculty who make truly outstanding contributions to Stanford’s undergraduate experience.” In 2003, Roberts received the annual Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education from the ACM’s Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). In 2012, Roberts received both the Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award from the ACM and the Taylor Booth Education Award from the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers Computer Society (IEEE-CS). In 2018, Roberts received the SIGCSE Award for Lifetime Service to the Computer Science Education Community. |
|---|---|
| Summary Part 1 | Part 1 [00:00:00-00:31:34] Childhood years and father’s work as a professor • Growing up in Nevada during post-Sputnik era • Early experiences with computers • Early interest in electronics devices and teaching • Decision to attend Harvard; interest in a broad education • Tom Cheatham as PhD advisor at Harvard • Memories of AM294, the first course in computer networking, taught by John McQuillan and Dave Walden at Harvard • Dave Walden’s account of why the original ARPANET only allowed 127 network addresses • Work at Bolt Beranek & Newman (BBN); research on Pluribus • Dissertation on software techniques for multiprocessor systems • Commitment to politics of second-wave feminism; living at Radcliffe College • Influence of maternal grandmother • Realization of inequities for women in computing • First full-time faculty member in computer science at Wellesley • Interest of women in computer science • Burnout of computer science faculty because of increasing course loads • 1984 Super Bowl ad for Apple Macintosh [00:31:35–01:00:29] Career opportunities for women in computer science • Junior leave from Wellesley • Faculty recruitment challenges in computer science • Collaborations with Greg Nelson • Move from to Palo Alto, California, to work at DEC Systems Research Center • Reflections on individual talent versus collaborative work models • Impact of DEC’s embrace of Modula-2 • Decision to leave DEC SRC to return to teaching • Accepting position at Stanford with encouragement from Terry Winograd • Collaboration with Terry Winograd, Severo Ornstein, and Laura Gould at Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility; context of Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) [01:00:30–01:20:27] Position at Stanford and vision for computer science education • Efforts to increase accessibility of computer science to liberal arts students • Authoring Thinking Recursively while at Wellesley • Transition from Pascal to C • Textbooks The Art and Science of C and Programming Abstractions in C • Making courses exciting and useful to attract students • Stanford Faculty Senate • Increase in number of computer science majors; disparity in number of faculty in computer science at Stanford • Collapse of computer science teaching due to faculty burnout • Historically high rate of turnover of computer science faculty at Stanford; recent turnaround due to input from visiting committee |
| Summary Part 2 | Part 2 [00:00:00–00:31:41] Joining Stanford Computer Science faculty in 1990 • Goals of keeping curriculum current and increasing “computer fluency” • Increase in enrollments in introductory computer science courses at Stanford compared to other universities • Change from Pascal to the programming language C for introductory courses • Thinking Recursively book and teaching students to write recursive programs • Thoughts on languages used to teach computing • Programming libraries • Teaching Intellectual Excitement of Computer Science course in Stanford Sophomore College • Emphasizing the rich intellectual tradition of computer science; the Antikythera Mechanism; Babbage Engine (Difference Engine No. 2); Alan Turing [00:31:42–01:00:43] Teaching Sophomore College course with John Hennessy • Appointment as Senior Associate Dean for Student Affairs in School of Engineering • Creation of Science Core • Challenges of balancing liberal arts and technical education • Teaching course Two Cultures: Bridging the Gap with Ramon Saldivar, Professor of English and Comparative Literature • Reflections on “techies and fuzzies” • CS 181 Computers, Ethics, and Public Policy [01:00:44–01:31:59] Teaching CS 68N Technological Visions of Utopia with Ursula Haise and Rob Robinson • Teaching at Oxford University in the Overseas Studies Program • Developing courses in computer science for high schools in Bermuda • Professional awards for service to the study of computer science [01:32:00–01:56:54] Decision to retire from Stanford • Large increase in students majoring in computer science while number of faculty remains constant • CS+X initiative to encourage computer science majors to take humanities courses • Proposal to create a school of computing at Stanford • Current position creating a new program in computing and data science at Willamette University |
| Transcript |
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| Finding Aid | |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/bf175qj3123 |
| Location | SC0932 |
| Repository | Stanford University. Libraries. Department of Special Collections and University Archives |
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- The materials are open for research use and may be used freely for non-commercial purposes with an attribution. For commercial permission requests, please contact the Stanford University Archives (universityarchives@stanford.edu).
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
Collection
Stanford Historical Society Oral History Program interviews, 1999-2022
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