Siebel School of Computing and Data Science

{{Infobox university

| name = Siebel School of Computing and Data Science

| image = File:Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science.jpg

| caption = Siebel Center building

| former_name = Department of Computer Science (1964–2024)

| established = 1964 (1949 as the Digital Computer Laboratory)

| type = Public

| department head =

| dean =

| director =

| head_label = Dean

| head = Nancy M. Amato{{cite web|title=Nancy Amato Named Next Department Head of Computer Science |url=https://cs.illinois.edu/news/nancy-amato-named-next-department-head-computer-science|accessdate=13 Jul 2018}}{{cite web|title=Robotics expert to be first woman to lead UI computer-science department|date=12 July 2018 |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-07-12/robotics-expert-be-first-woman-lead-ui-computer-science-department.html|accessdate=13 Jul 2018}}

| address = 201 North Goodwin Avenue

| city = Urbana

| state = Illinois

| country = USA

| website = {{ofurl}}

| logo =

}}

The Siebel School of Computing and Data Science (formerly the Department of Computer Science from 1964 to 2024) is the academic department for computer science at the Grainger College of Engineering of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

History

In 1949, the University of Illinois created the Digital Computer Laboratory following the joint funding between the university and the U.S. Army to create the ORDVAC and ILLIAC I computers under the direction of physicist Ralph Meagher.{{cite web|title=CS History Timeline {{!}} Department of Computer Science at Illinois|url=http://cs.illinois.edu/about-us/cs-history/cs-history-timeline|accessdate=18 June 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229094249/https://cs.illinois.edu/about-us/cs-history/cs-history-timeline|archivedate=29 December 2015}} The ORDVAC and ILLIAC computers the two earliest von-Neumann architecture machines to be constructed. Once completed in 1952, the ILLIAC I inspired machines such as the MISTIC, MUSASINO-1, SILLIAC, and CYCLONE, as well as providing the impetus for the university to continue its research in computing through the ILLIAC II project. Yet despite such advances in high-performance computing, faculty at the Digital Computer Laboratory continued to conduct research in other fields of computing as well, such as in Human-Computer Interaction through the PLATO project, the first computer music (the ILLIAC Suite), computational numerical methods through the work of Donald B. Gillies, and James E. Robertson, the 'R' co-inventor of the SRT division algorithm, to name a few.

Given this explosion in research in computing, in 1964, the University of Illinois reorganized the Digital Computer Laboratory into the Department of Computer Science, and by 1967, the department awarded its first PhD and master's degrees in Computer Science. In 1982, UIUC physicist Larry Smarr wrote a blistering critique of America's supercomputing resources,{{cite journal|title=The supercomputer famine in american universities |last1=Smarr |first1= Larry|journal= The Report of the Panel on Large Scale Computing in Science and Engineering|editor= P. D. Lax|year=1982}} and as a result the National Science Foundation established the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in 1985. NCSA was one of the first places in industry or academia to develop software for the 3 major operating systems at the time – Macintosh, PC, and UNIX. NCSA in 1986 released NCSA Telnet and in 1993 it released the Mosaic web browser. In 2004, the Department of Computer Science moved out of the Digital Computer Laboratory building into the Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science following a gift from alumnus Thomas Siebel.{{cite web|title=About the Siebel Center {{!}} Department of Computer Science at Illinois|url=https://cs.illinois.edu/about-us/about-siebel-center|accessdate=18 June 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528233053/http://cs.illinois.edu/about-us/about-siebel-center|archivedate=28 May 2016}}

The Department of Computer Science was renamed the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science in 2024, following a $50 million gift from Thomas M. Siebel.{{Cite web |last=Communications |first=Grainger Engineering Office of Marketing and |title=Siebel School of Computing and Data Science FAQ |url=https://siebelschool.illinois.edu/about/scds-faq |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=siebelschool.illinois.edu |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-04-26 |title=University of Illinois to Revamp Computer Science Department |url=https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/university-of-illinois-to-revamp-computer-science-department |access-date=2025-04-14 |website=GovTech |language=en}}

Degrees and programs

=Undergraduate=

The department offers 14 undergraduate degree programs, all leading to Bachelor of Science degrees, through six different colleges:

Computer Science (Engineering)
Computer Science and Physics (Engineering)
Mathematics and Computer Science (Liberal Arts and Science)
Statistics and Computer Science (LAS)
Computer Science and Chemistry (LAS)
Computer Science and Linguistics (LAS)
Computer Science and Anthropology (LAS)
Computer Science and Astronomy (LAS)
Computer Science and Economics (LAS)
Computer Science and Geography and Geographic Information Systems (LAS)
Computer Science and Advertising (Media)
Computer Science and Philosophy (LAS)
Computer Science and Animal Sciences (Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences)
[http://catalog.illinois.edu/undergraduate/aces/departments/crop-sci/cs-cpsc/ Computer Science and Crop Sciences] (Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences)
[https://music.illinois.edu/degree/bachelor-science-csmusic Computer Science and Music] (Fine and Applied Arts)

The department also sponsors a minor in computer science available to all UIUC students.

The department also offers two 5-year bachelors/masters programs through the College of Engineering: Bachelor of Science/Master of Science (B.S./M.S.) in Computer Science and Bachelors of Science/Masters of Computer Science(B.S./M.C.S.).

=Graduate=

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Master of Science (M.S.) in Computer Science
Professional Masters of Computer Science (M.C.S.)
[https://cs.illinois.edu/academics/graduate/professional-mcs-program/online-mcs Online MCS] is offered in partnership with [https://www.coursera.org/degrees/master-of-computer-science-illinois Coursera].
[https://cs.illinois.edu/academics/graduate/professional-mcs-program/mcs-data-science-track MCS in Data Science](MCS-DS) Track is offered in partnership with the [https://ischool.illinois.edu/ School of Information Science], the [https://stat.illinois.edu/ Department of Statistics], and [https://www.coursera.org/degrees/masters-in-computer-data-science Coursera]
Master of Science in Bioinformatics (M.S. Bioinformatics)

In popular culture

In the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the antagonist and sentient computer HAL 9000 says it was made operational at the HAL Plant in Urbana, Illinois which was meant to represent the Coordinated Science Laboratory where the ILLIAC project was conducted.{{Cite magazine| date=January 12, 2011|title=HAL of a Computer| url= https://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/tag/university-of-illinois | magazine=Wired |first=Randy|last=Alfred| url-status= dead| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110629023223/http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/tag/university-of-illinois/| archive-date= June 29, 2011| access-date= May 30, 2019}}

Notable faculty

Sarita Adve, principal investigator for the Universal Parallel Computing Research Center
Vikram Adve, helped to create LLVM along with Chris Lattner, Former Interim Head of the Department of Computer Science{{cite web|title=Vikram Adve named Interim Head of CS @ Illinois|url=https://cs.illinois.edu/news/vikram-adve-named-interim-head-cs-illinois|accessdate=27 May 2017}}
Gul Agha, director of the Open Systems Laboratory and researcher in concurrent computation
Prith Banerjee, former senior Vice President of Research at Hewlett Packard and director of HP Labs
Roy H. Campbell, Sohaib and Sara Abbasi Professor of Computer Science
Timothy M. Chan, Founder Professor of Computer Science
Herbert Edelsbrunner, recipient of the National Science Foundation's Alan T. Waterman Award
David Forsyth, Professor of Computer Science
C. William Gear, mathematician specialized in numerical analysis, computer graphics, and software development
Donald B. Gillies, mathematician and computer scientist specialized in game theory and computer architecture
Bill Gropp, Thomas M. Siebel Chair Professor, director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and co-creator of Message Passing Interface, IEEE Computer Society President-Elect{{Cite web|title=William D. Gropp Voted IEEE Computer Society 2021 President-Elect {{!}} IEEE Computer Society|date=29 September 2020 |url=https://www.computer.org/press-room/2020-news/gropp-voted-ieee-computer-society-2021-president-elect|access-date=2021-07-06|language=en-US}} (2021)
Jiawei Han, Abel Bliss Professor specialized in data mining
Michael Heath, director of the Center for the Simulation of Advanced Rockets and former interim department head (2007–2009)
Thomas Huang, researcher and professor emeritus specialized in Human-Computer Interaction
Ralph Johnson, Research Associate Professor and co-author of Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software
David Kuck, sole software designer on the ILLIAC IV and developer of the CEDAR project
Steven M. LaValle, principal scientist at Oculus Rift
Chung Laung Liu, Professor of Computer Science
Ursula Martin, computer scientist specialized in theoretical computer science and formal methods and a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Bruce McCormick, professor of physics, computer science, and bioengineering
Klara Nahrstedt, Ralph and Catherine Fisher Professor of Computer Science and director of the Coordinated Science Laboratory
David Plaisted, faculty at the Department of Computer Science until professorship at UNC-Chapel Hill
Daniel Reed, former department head (1996–2001) and former director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (2000–2003)
Edward Reingold, specialized in algorithms and data structures
Dan Roth, Professor of Computer Science
Rob A. Rutenbar, Abel Bliss Professor and former department head (2010–2017),{{cite web|title=Head of UI's computer-science department leaving for Pitt|date=11 April 2017 |url=http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2017-04-11/head-uis-computer-science-department-leaving-pitt.html|accessdate=27 May 2017}} noted for advances in computer hardware
Marc Snir, Michael Faiman and Saburo Muroga Professor of Computer Science and former department head (2001–2007)
Shang-Hua Teng, Professor of Computer Science and Gödel Prize laureate
Josep Torrellas, Willett Faculty Scholar in Computer Science and research faculty for the Universal Parallel Computing Research Center
Marianne Winslett, professor emerita of computer science
Stephen Wolfram, former Professor of Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science and founder of Wolfram Research
Frances Yao, Professor of Computer Science and staff at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
Yuanyuan Zhou, Professor of Computer Science and founder of Emphora, Pattern Insight, and Whova