Eric S. Roberts is an American

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

noted for his contributions to

computer science education Computer science education or computing education is the field of teacher, teaching and learning the discipline of computer science, and computational thinking. The field of computer science education encompasses a wide range of topics, from b ...

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 Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He currently teaches at

Willamette University Willamette University is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college with locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest college in the Western United ...

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...

Education

Roberts received an A. B. in

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

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

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 university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

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 college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

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 an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Eric American computer scientists American computer science educators Stanford University Department of Computer Science faculty 2007 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Wellesley College faculty Scientists from Durham, North Carolina