After a 53-year long career at Cornell spent shaping the field of computer science and its disciples, Prof. John Hopcroft delivered his final lecture to an empty lecture hall on April 29.
It was not how he envisioned his last hurrah.
“It’s fundamentally different to teach a hundred students when they’re physically there and you can interact with them, and when you’re giving a lecture to an empty hall and simply being videotaped,” Hopcroft said in an interview with The Sun. Hopcroft’s illustrious reign over computer science research and education began with his own teachers, who showed him what it meant to be a good educator.
“[Throughout my education] there were a number of faculty who really cared about my learning, and my being successful,” Hopcroft said. “They had a big impact on me, and I wanted to have that kind of impact on others.”
After earning his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1964, Hopcroft carried these values with him to a three-year long professorship at Princeton University. But his focus shifted from electrical engineering to computer science.
Amid the growing importance of computers and lack of computer science education programs in the mid 1960s, Hopcroft stumbled into teaching theoretical courses in computing. Though initially hired for his skills in electrical engineering, computer engineering salary was asked to use his engineering background to create his own computer science course so Princeton could keep its education up to par in a rapidly developing technological world. Hopcroft’s experience at Princeton led to his subsequent hiring at Cornell, where he had a hand in building a world-class computer science department.
It was not how he envisioned his last hurrah.
“It’s fundamentally different to teach a hundred students when they’re physically there and you can interact with them, and when you’re giving a lecture to an empty hall and simply being videotaped,” Hopcroft said in an interview with The Sun. Hopcroft’s illustrious reign over computer science research and education began with his own teachers, who showed him what it meant to be a good educator.
“[Throughout my education] there were a number of faculty who really cared about my learning, and my being successful,” Hopcroft said. “They had a big impact on me, and I wanted to have that kind of impact on others.”
After earning his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1964, Hopcroft carried these values with him to a three-year long professorship at Princeton University. But his focus shifted from electrical engineering to computer science.
Amid the growing importance of computers and lack of computer science education programs in the mid 1960s, Hopcroft stumbled into teaching theoretical courses in computing. Though initially hired for his skills in electrical engineering, computer engineering salary was asked to use his engineering background to create his own computer science course so Princeton could keep its education up to par in a rapidly developing technological world. Hopcroft’s experience at Princeton led to his subsequent hiring at Cornell, where he had a hand in building a world-class computer science department.
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