John E. Hopcroft is the IBM Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics in Computer Science at Cornell University. He received his BS (1961) from Seattle University and his M.S. (1962) and Ph.D. (1964) in electrical engineering from Stanford University. His research centers on theoretical aspects of computer science. He served as dean of Cornell University’s College of Engineering from 1994 until 2001. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and the Association of Computing Machinery.

In 1986 he was awarded the A. M. Turing Award for his research contributions. In 1992, he was appointed by President Bush to the National Science Board, which oversees the National Science Foundation, and served through May 1998. He received the IEEE Harry Goode Memorial Award in 2005 and the Computing Research Association’s Distinguished Service Award in 2007. He has honorary degrees from Seattle University, the National College of Ireland, and the University of Sydney. He serves on the Packard Foundation’s Science Advisory Board.

Abstract:

"Research Directions Supporting the Information Age"

The Information Age has given us access to enormous amounts of information in digital form. Within hours, we get news of events happening anywhere in the world. Information services on the World Wide Web give us access to web sites that allow us to view curriculum vita of researchers throughout the world, hotel accommodations in foreign countries and a vast array of products and services. Sensor networks provide us with the location of every commercial aircraft in the air at any given time or automobile traffic flow on major highways. Publications in digital form allow us to track how a scientific field evolved and who the key players were.

As we begin to grasp the enormity of information that is available, new computer science theory is needed to create sophisticated tools to mine this data. This talk will present some examples from the Information Age and illustrate the type of new mathematical theory that will be needed.