Steve Ruby My Duke CS degree has been

Steve Ruby. My Duke CS degree has been invaluable every step of the way. Employers regard it as proof of my mettle and ability-evidence that I sought a challenge and succeeded at it. And CS taught me the sort of rigorous, analytical thinking that is the sine qua non of the knowledge economy CPS 100 1. 1

Steve Ruby l Since earning my Computer Science degree I've worked as a consultant and then as a policy adviser / legislative liaison to West Virginia's Education Secretary. Now I'm in my second year at Washington and Lee University School of Law. I'm considering a career in litigation. l CS-style thinking is especially valuable in law because law is almost purely logic. It's no accident that so many of the best students in my class have degrees in CS and engineering. An old adage among law school admissions officers is that engineers make great law students because we only have to learn how to write; everyone else has to first learn how to think. With apologies to my classmates not lucky enough to have cut their teeth on algorithms and data structures, I've found that to be true. CPS 100 1. 2

Robin Valenza I graduated from Duke in 1996, majoring in computer science, but . receiving highest honors in English literature. I followed my time at Duke by pursuing an MPhil. in engineering and linguistics at Cambridge University in England, where I worked on automatic voice recognition systems. A week after defending my thesis in England, I flew to Stanford to begin a Ph. D. program in English, although I did return briefly to Cambridge to present and publish my voice recognition research CPS 100 1. 3

Robin Valenza l A week after defending my thesis in England, I flew to Stanford to begin a Ph. D. program in English, although I did return briefly to Cambridge to present and publish my voice recognition research. At Stanford, I wrote a dissertation on the division between scientific and literary disciplines in the eighteenth century. Last year was especially busy -- graduating from Stanford, getting married to the love of my life (Tim Yu), adopting a dog (Terra Bella Valenza-Yu) from the Peninsula Humane Society, and beginning a job as an assistant professor of English and the College at the University of Chicago. At Chicago, I teach mainly courses on science and literature before the invention of computers. I'm looking forward to my thirtieth birthday in October 2004, and perhaps a less hectic decade. CPS 100 1. 4