The Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science (SCS) gained its present status as a separate school in 1988; the department of computer science was established in 1965.
SCS is dedicated to producing highly-qualified research scientists. SCS' great strength has been the ability to push experimental computer science ideas from theory to practical demonstration.
In the past 15 years, SCS researchers have pioneered developments in the areas of distributed systems, computer networks, software technology , robotics, and parallel processing. SCS is at the forefront of the computer science field, furthering the accomplishments of the founders.
History
In the 1950's, the "electronic computer" emerged, capturing the minds of researchers in many disciplines. At Carnegie Mellon University this group included faculty such as Allen Newell, Herbert Simon, and Alan J. Perlis, as well as faculty in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, staff from the newly formed Computation Center, and key administrators. These visionaries conceived of computer science as more than the theory and design of computers; it is, as Newell said, "the study of all the phenomena arising from them."
The Department of Computer Science, one of the first such departments in the nation, was officially formed in July 1965. The intent was simple: to cultivate a course of study leading to the Ph.D. degree in computer science, a program that would exploit the new technology and assist in establishing a discipline of computer science. The educational program, formally accepted in October 1965, drew its first graduate students from several existing academic disciplines: mathematics, electrical engineering, psychology, and the interdisciplinary Systems and Communications Sciences program in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration. The department was housed within the Mellon College of Science, as part of the natural sciences.
By 1985, new areas within computer science were commanding attention with enough vigor that the department set about to become a school. Buttressed with the strong commitment of Newell, Simon, Nico Haberman , Provost Angel Jordan and President Richard Cyert , the department of computer science began a two-year status as a "floating" department in the early months of 1986. No longer embedded within the traditional confines of the Mellon College of Science, the Department began to stretch its scientific and fiscal wings, to see how it would evolve in a larger, more "open" organization. In 1988 the Department was officially elevated to the status of a School of Computer Science, among the first such schools in the country.
Structure in the 1980s
In the 1980s, the graduate program of the Computer Science department of CMU was atypical. The department offered only a PhD study program, with no master's degree as an intermediate step. The PhD program required a minimum of six years of residency. It was called the "do or die" program among the graduate students. In many other schools, students could bail out with a master's degree if they couldn't make it all the way. The CMU program demanded absolute dedication and commitment with no alternative. At the time, it prided itself on being the best computer science graduate program in the nation, specializing in computer networking, operating systems (Mach), and robotics.