Computer Science papers
Creator: Sproull, Robert L.
Call Number: UA385
Dates: 1969-1973
Physical Description: 1.67 Cubic feet
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: University of Rochester Archives

Table of Contents:

Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content
Subject(s)
Access
Use
Citation
Bibliography
Content List
Search Committee
Candidates
Research Documents
Inquiries
Collection Overview
Title: Computer Science papers
Creator: Sproull, Robert L.
Call Number: UA385
Dates: 1969-1973
Physical Description: 1.67 Cubic feet
Language(s): Materials are in English
Repository: University of Rochester Archives

Biographical/Historical Note
Plans to establish a Computer Science department at the University of Rochester began in the summer of 1969 following a recommendation from Deans William H. Meckling (Dean of the School of Business) and Robert G. Loewy (Dean of the School of Engineering) to Robert Sproull, then serving as Provost. As a result, Sproull appointed an ad hoc committee to look into the subject. This committee originally consisted of seven members: Professor Hugh G. Flynn, Associate Dean College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Professor David A. Goldstein of the Department of Radiation, Biology, and Biophysics, Professor George H. Haines, College of Business and Administration, Professor John K. Miller, College of Education, Professor Richard N. Rosette of the Department of Economics, Professor Herbert Voelcker of the Department of Electrical Engineering, and Professor H. Martin Weingartner, College of Business Administration.

Professor W. Jack Hall of the Department of Statistics and Professor J. H. B. Kemperman of the Department of Mathematics later joined.

The committee conducted a study on where computer science should fit in the University, and sought input from external consultants. The results of their study are documented in the Report of the Committee on Computer Science (January 1970). This report described their recommendations on organization structure of the department.

Subsequently, a smaller committee consisting of Professor George H. Haines, Professor Herbert Voelcker, and Professor W. Jack Hall was charged with developing a list of possible candidates for the chairmanship of the department. However, the committee was dissatisfied with its own results, and requested that a formal search committee be appointed.

This search committee consisted of four members: Professor Bill W. Arcuri, Professor Paul Zuckerman, Professor George H. Haines, and Professor Herbert Voelcker as the committee chair. The group met between June 1970 and June 1971. They solicited names of possible candidates, sought references for them, organized their visits to the University, assessed them, and finally recommended a candidate for the chairmanship.

Two candidates were suggested by the search committee, and each in turn was offered the position: neither chose to accept the job offer. As a result, a new search committee was appointed in June 1971, with Professor Gail Young (chair of the Department of Mathematics), Professor W. Jack Hall, Professor H. Martin Weingartner, and Professor Hugh G. Flynn as the head of the committee. This search committee carried on with the work of the previous committee in an effort to find a chair for the Computer Sciences department. Similar to the previous committee, the committee also helped with shaping the structural relationships of the Computer Science department, while working to identify other individuals to join the department.

The department was established in the summer of 1974, following the committee's recommendation of Jerome A. Feldman, formerly an associate professor of computer science and associate director of Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, at Stanford University, as chair. Professor Feldman headed the department from 1974 to 1981.

Scope and Content
This collection is organized in four series: 1) search committee, 2) candidates, 3) research documents, and 4) inquiries.

Search Committee series contains material related to the work of the different committees that were involved in the establishment of a Computer Science Department at the University of Rochester. These materials include correspondence with Robert L. Sproull (University of Rochester President 1970-1984; Provost 1968-1970), committee consultants, potential hires, faculty at the University and individuals in academia and the computing field across the US. Also included in this series is a grant proposal for a computer systems engineering program.

Candidates series includes correspondence between the search committee and the candidates. Copies of the candidates' curriculum vitae, publications, and research papers are also included.

Research Documents series on the other hand is made up of material used by the search committees in conducting their research. These include computer science publications, curriculum books for computer science from other colleges and universities, and manuals for different computing systems.

Inquiries series contains correspondence inquiring about the availability of faculty positions in the Computer Science department as well as potential students writing about submitting applications to the University's Computer Science program.

Subject(s):
Computer science
Correspondence
Records (Documents)
Job descriptions
Research notes
University of Rochester.. Department of Computer Science
Access
The Computer Science papersare open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use
Reproductions are made upon request but can be subject to restrictions. Permission to publish materials from the collection must currently be requested. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information contact rarebks@library.rochester.edu.



Citation
[Item title, item date], Computer Science papers, UA385, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of RochesterBibliography
Computer Science, 1974-1984. Public Relations Subject Files, Series 17, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester.


Administrative Information
Author: Mercy Salome Jemutai (Class of 2021)
Publisher: University of Rochester Archives
Address: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation
River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
500 Joseph C. Wilson Blvd.
Rochester, New York 14627-0055
archives@library.rochester.edu

Finding aid publication date: 2020
Content List