A culture of persistence

"Although few may recall that Purdue CS included a Business Data Processing option as early as the 1960s under the leadership of Samuel Conte and Jay Nunamaker, it was likely the first CS program to foresee this economic juggernaut. In 1978, Sam Conte served as a member of the Search Committee for the Founding Head of the Department of Computer (and Information) Technology (CIT) in Purdue Polytechnic Institute which selected me. I can attest my Purdue CS education prepared me for this responsibility. My CS education taught me the power of ABSTRACTION which formed the conceptual foundation for CIT’s early curriculum in system analysis and design, data management, and networking. As CIT looks toward its 50th anniversary, the 60th anniversary of Purdue CS is a fitting reminder of its foundation for Purdue’s leadership and vision in computing education on which CS and CIT have been built into Purdue Computes!"

 

- Thomas I. M. Ho, BS 1970, MS 1971, PhD 1974, previous head of the Department of Computer and Information Technology(CIT) at Purdue University