New CISE Assistant Director

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

News Release                           NSF PR94-32


COMPLEXITY EXPERT PAUL R. YOUNG TO LEAD
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION'S COMPUTING DIRECTORATE


        Paul R. Young, an expert on the complexity of computing, has been
appointed to head the National Science Foundation's Directorate for
Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE).
        Young, a professor of computer science and engineering at the
University of Washington, serves as the associate dean of research,
facilities and external affairs for the College of Engineering at
Washington. He will assume his duties as NSF's assistant director for CISE
July 1, 1994.
        For Young, 58, the appointment continues an association with NSF
that began more than 30 years ago. Before earning a doctorate at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963, he was twice awarded NSF
Predoctoral Fellowships. In 1965-66 at Stanford University, he received an
NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship and has since received numerous NSF grants to
research the mathematical theory of computing.
        In 1992, Young became a senior member of the Institute Electronics
and Electrical Engineers (IEEE). He co-authored the text "An Introduction
to the General Theory of Algorithms" and has written 50 published technical
articles. He has taught extensively, including at Reed College, Purdue
University, University of California at Berkeley, University of New Mexico,
University of Wisconsin and Washington.
        NSF Director Neal Lane, citing Young's leadership in the Computing
Research Association and his national efforts to forge strong undergraduate
curricula, said, "Dr. Young has advanced not only the technical realm of
the discipline, but, perhaps more importantly, he has strengthened its base
and helped sharpen its vision. His talents and insights will serve the
foundation well as he guides CISE's efforts in high- performance computing,
networking and communications, information systems, robotics,
microelectronics systems, computation systems, and, of course, theoretical
computer science.
        "These are times of tremendous and rapid changes in computing. When
you consider that Dr. Young's research emphasis, complexity theory,
explores the limits of what computers can do and how to pursue the optimal
solutions to problems, I'm confident that we have appointed someone
especially suited to turn challenges into opportunities," Lane said.
        In making the announcement, Lane also praised Mel Ciment, who was
named CISE's acting assistant director after the unexpected death of A.
Nico Habermann last August. Ciment will return to his former position of
deputy assistant director for CISE.
        With a $240 million budget in fiscal year 1994, CISE supports the
NSF's four supercomputing centers and the NSFNET program (a critical factor
in phenomenal growth of the Internet and the development of America's
information infrastructure). CISE also leads NSF's participation in the
federal government's interagency initiative on high-performance computing
and communications. In fiscal year 1993, the directorate provided support
for more than 5,000 persons involved in realms such as parallel processing,
software engineering, systems architecture, gigabit networking research,
digital libraries, virtual reality, robotics and advanced manufacturing,
and computational modeling of biological processes.


                           -end-


The National Science Foundation is an independent agency of the federal
government established in 1950 to promote and advance scientific progress
in the United States.  NSF accomplishes its mission primarily by
competitively awarding grants to educational institutions for research and
education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering.


This and other information is available electronically on STIS, NSF's
Science and Technology Information System.  For more information about STIS
contact the Publications Section at (703) 306-1130 and request the "STIS
Flyer," NSF Publication #94-4, or send an E-mail message to
stisinfo () nsf gov (INTERNET) or stisinfo@NSF (BITNET).


====================


Dr. John R. Lehmann
Deputy Division Director
MIPS Division
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22230
703-306-1940
FAX: 703-306-0610
jlehmann () nsf gov