HOLD ON to your socks HMC FACULTY PROFILE

This is Ran (“Ron”) Libeskind- Hadas (“Libeskind-Hadas”). He doesn’t write code, work in a cu- bicle, or survive only on Jolt and pizza. He in no way resembles Dilbert. And yet he’s a computer scientist. In fact, he’s on a mis- sion to change your ideas about computers, programming and computer science itself.

WHY DILBERT IS A MYTH

“Most students come to college with the misguided view that computer science is all about programming, and we’re all Dilberts who sit in cubicles and hack away at code. That’s not the way we think about the discipline. Programming is to computer science as English is to literature: you need it to express solutions, but it’s just a medium.”

WHAT YOU’LL DO OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM “Lab work is hugely important. We have an enormous summer research presence. More than 150 students spend the summer doing paid research with faculty. That ratio is astounding.”

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO DO RESEARCH WITH HIM “My work is extremely theoretical—I’m designing and analyzing the most efficient way to solve optical networking problems—but my research is hands-on. When I work with students on a summer research project, we’ll read papers together, meet several times a day, talk about the problems we’re working on—and then we’ll go to the white board or sit with a pencil and paper. This is sophisticated stuff, but the students are extremely capable.”

WHAT THE BIG PICTURE LOOKS LIKE “This is a dynamic field; the skill sets we’re using now won’t be the skill sets we’ll use ten years from now. So we’re trying to expose students to the big picture. We want to convey major intellectual ideas and problem-solving strategies; we want our students to be better thinkers and communicators. If you’ve got the big principles, then you can surf the wave.”

WHY SOCKS ARE OPTIONAL “In my computational complexity theory course, I asked students to get two one-inch strips of scotch tape, but gave no further explanation. After stating a surprising theorem, I said, ‘The last piece of this lovely proof is so amazing it’s going to knock your socks off—so, take your two strips and tape each sock to your leg.’ Hence, the knock-your-socks-off theorem.”

6 H A R V E Y M U D D C O L L E G E | p r o f i l e s

RAN LIBESKIND-HADAS

PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR DIVERSITY, RESEARCH AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING HARVEY MUDD COLLEGE

......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................