Eric S. Roberts is an American

computer scientist A computer scientist is a person who is trained in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation, as opposed to the hardware side on which computer engineers mainly focus (a ...

noted for his contributions to

computer science education Computer science education or computing education is the art of teaching and learning the discipline of computer science, and computational thinking. As a subdiscipline of pedagogy it also addresses the wider impact of computer science in socie ...

through textbook authorship and his leadership in computing curriculum development. He is a co-chair of the ACM Education Council, former co-chair of the ACM Education Board, and a former member of the SIGCSE Board. He led the Java task force in 1994. He was a Professor emeritus at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

. He currently teaches at

Willamette University Willamette University is a private liberal arts college with locations in Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United States. Originally named the Oregon Institute, the school was an unaffiliated ...

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary bet ...

Education

Roberts received an A. B. in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1973. He received an S. M. in

from

in June 1974 and a Ph.D in

from

in 1980.

Career and research

He joined the Department of Computer Science at

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial ...

as an assistant professor in 1980. In 1984–1985 he was a visiting lecturer in Computer Science at

. In 1990 he was an associate professor at

and promoted to professor (teaching) of Computer Science in 1990. In 2018, he joined

Reed College Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...

as a visiting professor of computer science. In 2020, he joined

as the Mark and Melody Teppola Presidential Distinguished Visiting Professor. While at Stanford he has also held several other positions such as associate chair and director of undergraduate studies from 1997 to 2002, and senior associate dean for student affairs from 2001 to 2003. Roberts has written several introductory computer science textbooks, including * ''Thinking Recursively'' * ''The Art and Science of C'' * ''Programming Abstractions in C'' * ''Thinking Recursively with Java'' * ''The Art and Science of Java''

Awards

Roberts has several notable awards in computer science. * SIGCSE Award for Lifetime Service to Computer Science Education * ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award in 2012. *

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operati ...

Computer Society’s 2012 Taylor L. Booth Education Award. * Elected ACM Fellow in 2007.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Eric American computer scientists Computer science educators Stanford University Department of Computer Science faculty Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Wellesley College faculty People from Durham, North Carolina