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30057-Cov Cornell PB 10/30/06 11:24 AM Page 1 Contents CIS CIS 2006 Annual Report Faculty of Computing and Information Science Cornell University COMPUTING 4132 Upson Hall Ithaca, NY 14853-7501 607-255-9188 www.cis.cornell.edu AND Department of Computer Science Cornell University INFORMATION 4130 Upson Hall Ithaca, NY 14853-7501 607-255-7316 www.cs.cornell.edu SCIENCE 30057-Cov Cornell PB 10/30/06 11:24 AM Page 2 leadership in research and education 30057-Cornell 10/30/06 12:07 PM Page 1 Contents 4 Message from the Dean of Faculty of Computing and Information Science 7 Message from the Chair of the Department of Computer Science 10 CIS Units 10 Departments Department of Computer Science Department of Statistical Science 11 Programs Program of Computer Graphics Information Science Program Computational Biology Computational Science and Engineering 14 Centers and Institutes Cornell Theory Center Information Assurance Institute Intelligent Information Systems Institute National Science Digital Library at Cornell Computer Systems Lab 20 Research Focus: Computer Science at Cornell Computer Graphics Security Computational Biology Database Systems and Digital Libraries Artificial Intelligence Operating Systems, Networks, and Distributed Computing Programming Languages and Compilers Scientific and Parallel Computing Theory of Computing 24 Corporate and Foundation Interactions 28 Alumni and External Relations 32 CIS, CS, and IS Courses 35 Research Grants 42 New Faculty 44 Faculty and Senior Researcher Profiles College of Human Ecology College of Veterinary Medicine School of Industrial and Labor Relations Johnson Graduate School of Management College of Architecture, Art, and Planning College of Engineering College of Arts and Sciences College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 30057-Cornell 10/30/06 12:07 PM Page 2 30057-Cornell 10/30/06 12:07 PM Page 3 Graduate School Weill Medical College Weill School of Hotel Administration Law School CISCIS Weaving together experts from disciplines throughout Cornell University in an atmosphere of collegiality. Department of Computer Science Computational Biology Computational Science and Engineering Cornell Theory Center Department of Statistical Science Information Science Program Program of Computer Graphics CIS ANNUAL REPORT 2006 3 30057-Cornell 10/30/06 12:07 PM Page 4 Message from the Dean FACULTY OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCE Robert L. Constable Toward William H. Gates Hall on the information campus The end of 2005 proved to be an exciting and impor- information needed by the Foundation in tant time in the relatively short history of the Faculty deciding to make its gift. In June 2006, the of Computing and Information Science. In December, Ballinger architectural firm did further site the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gifted CIS analysis, and a potential site was identified by twenty-five million dollars toward the construction the university pending further study and of William H. Gates Hall, which will be built as the approvals. This site would connect Gates Hall signature building of the developing "information to existing CIS space in Upson and Rhodes Halls campus" at Cornell. and would provide a splendid new entrance This generous gift was the culmination of an to the Cornell campus from Collegetown, a interaction with the Foundation initiated by former modern Eddy Gate. Cornell President Lehman and facilitated by our good friend and benefactor Narayana Murthy, founder of The CIS-Microsoft Relationship InfoSys and a Cornell trustee. Keshav Pingali, who Our connection to Bill Gates resonates well with holds the India Chair, helped me prepare a proposal the history of Cornell and of the Computer to the Foundation, submitted by the president and Science Department. Over one hundred years the CIS dean. ago, Ezra Cornell started Cornell University with For some time, as part of the process of seeking the fortune he made during the communication funding, we in CIS had thought seriously about an revolution of the time: the telegraph industry. information campus and the academic programs Just thirteen years ago, Gates was influenced by it would house. In summer 2005, the CIS building Cornell alum Steven Sinofsky, now vice president committee, led by Ken Birman, started planning for the Windows division, to orient Microsoft to the information campus. The committee worked the Internet and advance the modern digital with Rafael Vinoly Architects to create a program communication revolution. As Gates said in his analysis and initial site evaluation. They provided book, The Road Ahead, 4 CIS ANNUAL REPORT 2006 30057-Cornell 10/30/06 12:07 PM Page 5 “One of our enduring traditions is that the faculty gathers at noon every day to eat lunch while dis- cussing the latest research results ....” —Charlie Van Loan “ On a recruiting trip to Cornell University in late 1993 my “ ... the unique texture of our department stems, I believe, technical assistant Steven Sinofsky was impressed by the way from our collegiality. One of our enduring traditions is that the academic community was using the Internet to commu- the faculty gathers at noon every day to eat lunch while nicate. When I heard Steve talk about what was happening discussing the latest research results ....” at Cornell, I began to take the Internet quite seriously.” He went on to point out that many of the research results reported in the booklet were sparked by these discussions. I The Computer Science Department has been closely involved recall a wonderful collaboration between David Gries and myself with Microsoft for over a decade. Many faculty have research that started just this way in the Statler Club in 1972. I want to ties with Microsoft Research, and Microsoft has been an thank David for the superb job he did in editing the fortieth important player in the development of the Theory Center. anniversary booklet, which you can see online. We have always seen Microsoft as a "computing and During its forty years, Cornell Computer Science has been information science company," and the vision put forward by rated among the top four or five departments in the country. Gates in The Road Ahead is close to that embraced by CIS: This year, US News & World Report rated the department fifth computing will touch every aspect of life and is critical to and ranked it highly in three sub areas: theory, programming solving the most pressing scientific, engineering, and social languages, and artificial intelligence. problems facing the world. Change in Computer Science Leadership The Computer Science Department's Charlie Van Loan completed his term as chair of the Computer Fortieth Anniversary Celebration Science Department (CS). As chair for seven years, Charlie won This annual report contains a piece on the October 1st celebra- the faculty's admiration for his boundless capacity for hard work tion of the fortieth anniversary of the Computer Science and for the friendly and supportive work environment he has Department. In the introduction to the booklet produced for cultured. In his first years as chair, he remained the undergradu- the occasion, Charlie Van Loan said that a great department ate program director and became head of recruiting as well. He must be excellent in research and teaching; it cannot lead in also served as the first director of graduate studies for the new all areas, but it must be a world leader in some. A great depart- field of Computational Science & Engineering, formed by CIS. ment, he said, must take the lead in defining how the field I was honored to appoint Eva Tardos as chair. Eva is one of evolves, and it must have some quality that makes it unique. the most distinguished faculty in CIS, known for her fundamen- He defined that quality for the computer science department: tal results about networks, and over the years she has exhibited CIS ANNUAL REPORT 2006 5 30057-Cornell 10/30/06 12:07 PM Page 6 exceptional leadership skills. Eva had received the overwhelming shops. In fall 2006, the topic will be the diffusion of information, recommendation from the CS faculty to be the next chair. and in the spring, Microsoft will partner with Cornell to present We look forward with anticipation to new and exciting a workshop about the impact of the Internet on our understand- innovation in computing research and education. Forty years ing of truth and knowledge. CIS is pleased to be a key player in ago, we had no idea that computing and our Computer Science these major intellectual events on campus next year. Department would be where they are today. Eva is just the right person to start CS off on another forty years; we cannot predict Computational Biology: Bridging the Rift where the field will take us, but rest assured that we will be The Bridging the Rift Project (BTR), led by CS professor Ron Elber, involved in constructing the future. has taken a major step forward in bioinformatics. Ron and I traveled to Jordan in May to work with five public Jordanian The Department of Statistical Science research universities to select scientists who will be funded by The other department in CIS, the Department of Statistical BTR to study at Cornell in preparation for joining the Library of Science (DSS), was rated sixth by the US News & World Report in the Desert research project. 2006 and fifth in the 1995 National Research Council rankings. Cornell is a major partner in this project, with the dual We expect that the growing synergy between CS and Statistics, goal of advancing regional peace and creating a state-of-the-art as disciplines fundamentally concerned with understanding science project for the Arava desert border region between large amounts of data using mathematics and computation, Israel and Jordon. will strengthen both of these outstanding departments. We are fortunate to have Marty Wells as DSS chair.