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October 6, 2006 Vol. 77, no.
8F
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| PEG SKORPINSKI PHOTO |
Professor
Minute with EECS professor Stuart Russell
EECS professor Stuart Russell received his B.A. in physics from Oxford
University in 1982 and his Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford
in 1986. That year he joined the UC Berkeley faculty, where he is also
director of the Center for Intelligent Systems and holder of the Smith-Zadeh
Chair in Engineering. His research interests include artificial intelligence,
machine learning, real-time decision making, algorithms, probabilistic
reasoning and computational biology.
What first inspired you to go into
engineering?
In 1976, I was in high school in England when a nearby college asked
for volunteers to enroll in a new computing course on Wednesday afternoons.
It seemed interesting and a good way to get out of compulsory rugby
(also on Wednesday afternoons, frequently played in freezing rain,
sleet, hail, etc.). My first program taught itself to play tic-tac-toe,
then I wrote a chess program using the CDC 6600 supercomputer at Imperial
College. I used to take the subway there twice a week carrying a three-foot
stack of punch cards. Finding oneself on the research frontier in high
school was quite exciting.
To date, what has been the most memorable moment in your career?
Getting a job offer from Berkeley.
If you had a few extra hours, what would you do?
Take my four small children out for a picnic.
What should engineering students make sure they do at Berkeley before
they graduate?
Take a wide range of interesting courses outside engineering. Berkeley’s
offerings are unequalled anywhere in the world. And spend a semester
abroad.
What are you currently reading?
The Cave by Jose Saramago. So far it’s heavy going. Maybe it’ll
get better.
What is one thing you would like to learn how to do?
Surf the big waves. We have a house by the ocean in Bolinas, and I’m
just getting started on small waves.
If you would like us to feature your favorite professor, please email
his or her name to engnews@coe.berkeley.edu
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