ISR Alums and Faculty Participate in ICS 50th Anniversary

On October 16th, the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences celebrated its 50th anniversary! ICS was founded in 1968 as a free-standing department, and became the University of California’s first computer science school in 2002.

More than 400 people attended this daylong commemorative event, which was held at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center. Numerous software alums attended, enjoying the opportunity to reunite and look back on their time at UCI.

UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman praised ICS for being the only independent computer technology school in the University of California system. ICS Dean Marios Papaefthymiou noted that the event was not just about reflecting on the past, but also looking ahead to the next 50 years.

Prof. Emeritus Debra Richardson, the Founding Dean of the School of ICS, and Prof. Emeritus Richard N. Taylor participated on a panel on the topic of “How We Got Here” which addressed: ideas the school was founded upon and how they evolved over time; ways in which ICS has contributed to promoting the responsible and equitable use of technology; and impactful contributions, for example from collaborations with industry. Alumnus Dr. Owen O’Malley (Ph.D. 1996, advisor: Debra Richardson), co-founder and technical fellow of Hortonworks, served on a panel on “Industry and Entrepreneurship.” O’Malley reflected on the day, “The ICS 50th anniversary event was a wonderful chance to get together and share the stories of where we have been and where we are going. I loved the opportunity to reconnect with people that I haven’t seen in 30 years.”

A highlight of the event was the announcement of the establishment of the Richard N. Taylor Fellowship in Software Engineering, made as Prof. Taylor stood and the audience cheered enthusiastically! See this article to learn more about the fellowship.