Chair's Message
Dear Friends,
Warm greetings from Chapel Hill! It’s been yet another busy year on the Hill. We culminated the Department’s 50th Anniversary Celebration with a Gala Symposium and banquet in May. It was a real treat to see so many of our alumni and friends back in Chapel Hill and listen to their talks, reconnect, and reminisce. If you were unable to attend the events of the weekend, you can click here to read our recap and see photos. Also note that nearly all of the alumni symposium talks can be found on our departmental YouTube page.
Shortly after the anniversary Gala, the Department passed another milestone as we graduated our largest ever undergraduate cohort—nearly 120 B.S. and B.A. graduates.
Amidst these festivities, we also congratulated our founder, Fred Brooks, who officially retired in June. Since the Department’s founding over 50 years ago, Fred has been one of the few constants. That the Department has consistently been a nationally ranked top-25 computer science department is a testament to the foundation laid by Fred as well as his capability as a teacher, researcher, and leader. Fred’s impact on this Department is second to none, and he will always be part of the UNC Computer Science family. We are deeply grateful for his remarkable service, and we wish him all the best in retirement.
Congratulations are also in order for two of our senior faculty members, Henry Fuchs and Steve Pizer. In addition to being named an IEEE Fellow, Henry received the 2015 Coons Award at SIGGRAPH this summer. Steve was recognized by his students, collaborators, and friends with a campaign to name a conference room in Sitterson Hall in his honor. You can read about these and other awards and honors in this edition of the News & Notes.
Kevin Jeffay
Chair of the Department