New Head of CS from Berkeley

HydeSnark
Wed, 13 Jan 2016 17:26:20 +0000

I don’t think we’re trying to be CMU or Berkeley or Stanford, and I think if they try it is going to take many, many years. The ethos of the CS department here is extremely math-focused. Most CS classes counts as a math elective. There is very little culture of entrepreneurship.

One of my good friends here turned down CMU Comp Sci for Chicago because of Chicago’s strength in math and physics, and Chicago’s reputation for a very theory oriented undergraduate CS major. CS/Math is incredibly common, and really easy to fit because of overlaps, leading to what feels like a majority of CS majors being a math major. I think the strategy is to become the best CS research/theory school, not to try to challenge the schools known for entrepreneurship. It certainly doesn’t seem like there’s any collective effort by the school to push towards that, any push towards making a startup culture here is coming from a subset of CS students who want it.

It also seems like we’re already offering an unparalleled education in CS theory, the rankings just haven’t caught up with us. The CS department is in a similar place that the school as a whole was in 10 years ago, and the reputation is rising fast.