High management is shifting on the College of Washington’s Paul G. Allen College of Pc Science & Engineering, as Director Magdalena Balazinska‘s time period concludes after almost seven years. Dan Grossman, the college’s vice director and a long-time school member, will take over as interim director.
The management transition formally takes impact Aug. 17.
The college and the UW School of Engineering introduced the transfer Monday morning, following separate emails despatched to Allen College school and workers by each professors (in full beneath).
Balazinska wrote that she’s going to take a “long-awaited sabbatical” earlier than returning to instructing, calling the transition one thing “now we have been planning and discussing for some time.” Grossman sought to reassure the neighborhood that “the transition might be easy and never the reason for any important modifications.”
In response to the Allen College, Balazinska was initially appointed to a 5-year time period, which is the norm. Extending the time period of a director or chair shouldn’t be thought-about uncommon on the UW or within the Allen College, however Balazinska didn’t need to lengthen past a further yr or so.
The interim management construction with Grossman will stay in place for roughly a yr whereas UW management considers suggestions from a Provost activity power on how the establishment ought to manage its broader computing, knowledge science, and AI initiatives.
The Job Power on Computing and Information Science was established earlier this yr to judge whether or not the college’s administrative and educational buildings are correctly constructed to assist the fast development of computing, AI, and knowledge science. A central focus of the mandate was assessing limitations within the present mannequin — the place computing resides inside the School of Engineering — and figuring out different organizational buildings, together with impartial items or cross-university institutes, to boost analysis management, exterior partnerships, and scholar pathways.
Grossman, who served on the duty power, mentioned that the group just lately accomplished its report for Provost Tricia Serio and President Robert Jones to evaluate. Balazinska mentioned, “it should take time for the President and Provost to think about and act on suggestions associated to activity power findings.”
“UW is working critically on how you can finest place itself to guide in computing within the a long time forward and the Allen College will, in fact, be a key a part of that,” Grossman wrote.
Main development for Allen College
Balazinska was named Allen College director in July 2019, formally taking the helm in January 2020 following the 13-year tenure of former director Hank Levy.
Previous to main the Allen College, she served as director of the UW eScience Institute and because the college’s first Affiliate Vice Provost for Information Science. In these roles, she spearheaded the creation of UW’s undergraduate and graduate knowledge science diploma tracks, pushing to combine data-intensive discovery into fields starting from astronomy to oceanography.
An knowledgeable in database administration techniques, Balazinska joined the UW school in 2006 after incomes her Ph.D. in laptop science from MIT.
Her analysis profession has centered on scalable distributed knowledge techniques, cloud computing, huge knowledge processing, and picture and video analytics. Extra just lately, her work has expanded to multimodal knowledge administration and the intersection of AI and knowledge techniques.
Her work within the discipline earned her the inaugural Ladies in Database Analysis Award, in addition to choice as an ACM Fellow.
Below Balazinska’s management, the Allen College noticed a 50% surge in graduate levels awarded since 2019 alongside the addition of 40 new school members.
The college awarded greater than 800 levels this yr throughout its undergraduate, grasp’s and doctoral applications.
Balazinska, who can also be the Invoice & Melinda Gates Chair in Pc Science, oversaw a serious modernization of the college’s core curriculum. Her tenure noticed an overhaul of the introductory programming sequence, the launch of an undergraduate analysis program, a brand new Graduate Certificates in Trendy AI Strategies, and the creation of a Information Science minor, with an AI minor presently in improvement.
In her electronic mail, Balazinska expressed enthusiasm about returning to her core ardour after taking time away throughout her sabbatical.
“I’m trying ahead to returning to analysis, advising, and instructing,” she wrote, noting that she plans to rejoin the Allen College school full-time following her break.
‘My dream job’
Grossman has served as vice director for 9 years, and alongside Balazinska all through her seven-year tenure, appearing as her main companion in managing the college’s educational applications, school affairs, and strategic planning.
“To me, the Allen College is far more than one of many main laptop science and engineering applications on this planet,” Grossman mentioned in a press release. “It has been my skilled residence since I accomplished my Ph.D. 23 years in the past. It was my dream job then, and it’s my dream job now.”
An extended-time UW school member and knowledgeable in programming languages and computing schooling, Grossman has often paired with Balazinska to navigate the division’s response to seismic business shifts.
Most just lately, the duo collaborated on public-facing efforts to handle rising scholar anxiousness surrounding AI’s affect on tech careers, advocating for curriculum updates that combine AI instruments whereas reinforcing core software program engineering fundamentals.
Past administrative duties, Grossman has maintained a heavy presence within the classroom, instructing programs in programming languages, software program design, and laptop ethics. He additionally leads the college’s direct-admit seminar for first-year majors and created a well-liked on-line programming course on Coursera that reached 1000’s of scholars over the previous decade.
“I couldn’t be extra grateful to Dan for getting into the interim director position,” Balazinska famous in her electronic mail to workers. “He understands each nook of the Allen College, cares deeply about our college students and college, and can present excellent management because the college navigates the subsequent steps for computing.”
Nancy Allbritton, dean of the School of Engineering, mentioned in a press release that Grossman’s appointment “will guarantee sturdy management and continuity throughout a interval of considerate planning for the long run.”
Allbritton additionally expressed her gratitude to Balazinska for her “distinctive service and management” because the Allen College “strengthened its standing as one of many nation’s main computing applications whereas advancing its affect in AI, knowledge science, and rising areas throughout analysis and schooling.”
Learn Magdalina Balazinska’s electronic mail to Allen College school and workers:
Pricey College and Workers,
As now we have been planning and discussing for some time, my time period as Allen College director is coming to an finish. Later as we speak, the Dean will formally announce the appointment of Dan Grossman as Interim Director when my time period formally ends on August seventeenth and I take a long-awaited sabbatical.
We could have an Interim Director for the subsequent yr or so due to the continued conversations on Computing, Information Science, and AI at UW, and the way the College ought to manage itself and its efforts associated to these vital matters. Though the Provost Job Power is finishing its work this summer time, it should take time for the President and Provost to think about and act on the suggestions, and an interim appointment is sensible in that context.
My deep because of Dan for his willingness to imagine this accountability, and for the fantastic assist he has supplied to me in his position as Vice Director for the previous 7 years. Dan and I’ve labored collectively ever since we joined UW as newly minted Assistant Professors over 20 years in the past! Dan is a considerate chief who cares deeply in regards to the success and well-being of our school, college students and workers. I’m delighted that he agreed to tackle this position at such a important time for laptop science schooling, for our College, and for greater schooling extra typically.
As Director of the Allen College for almost seven years, I’m extremely happy with what we’ve achieved — via a few of the most turbulent instances since we had been based because the “Pc Science Group” 60 years in the past. We’ve got not merely weathered these challenges — we’ve thrived.
Our accomplishments are too quite a few to listing in a brief electronic mail, however a number of highlights embody:
We’ve grown considerably, graduating 50% extra college students as we speak than in 2019, hiring 40 new school members (and in addition celebrating some retirements and different departures), and overhauling most of our processes to function at this new, bigger scale.
However we haven’t simply grown, we’ve modernized our core instructional applications, together with our Ph.D. quals and undergraduate intro-to-programming sequence, whereas launching new ones: our Undergraduate Analysis Program, our Graduate Certificates in Trendy AI Strategies, the UW Information Science Minor (whose creation we co-led), and — now underway — a UW AI Minor. Alongside the best way, we’ve launched many new programs spanning quantum computing to AI-assisted software program engineering.
Past the classroom, we’ve launched new analysis facilities, initiatives, grand challenges, and analysis teams — together with CREATE, Computing for the Atmosphere, Globe.AI, and the Middle for Studying, Computing, and Creativeness, to call just some amongst many others. We’ve additionally modernized our communications and web site, expanded our analysis infrastructure, and raised very important funds for brand new professorships, scholarships, fellowships, analysis initiatives, and different college actions.
We’ve additionally deepened our neighborhood assist and actions — with new programming for undergraduates, graduate college students, school, and workers.
Whereas engaged on the above, we’ve celebrated everybody’s concepts, accomplishments, and affect together with our college students, researchers and workers profitable a few of the most prestigious honors on our campus and in our discipline. It has been fantastic to witness firsthand all that you’ve achieved and to cheer you on!
It has been an incredible privilege to function director of the Allen College. I’m grateful to you — the members of our neighborhood — for giving your finest day by day to advance our instructional and analysis missions and develop our affect, sharing your concepts for a way we might enhance, and giving me — and one another — grace as we navigated new and infrequently sudden challenges.
After a short break during which I’ll see my daughter off to school(!), I’m trying ahead to returning my consideration full-time to advising my college students and pursuing my analysis, whereas additionally supporting Dan in his new position along with the remainder of the Allen College school and workers management.
Thanks for uplifting me, difficult me and supporting me over the previous seven years. It has been an exquisite journey, and I realized a lot about our neighborhood and myself alongside the best way. And to my good good friend and colleague Dan, congratulations!
magda
Learn Dan Grossman’s electronic mail to college and workers:
Pricey Allen College neighborhood,
Although you’ve already heard from Magda in regards to the upcoming Allen College management transition, I wished to ship my very own message as I work on transitioning into the Interim Director position.
At first, I need to communicate each for the complete neighborhood and for myself personally in thanking Magda for her management during the last seven years. She has been really extraordinary, managing each important sudden challenges (a pandemic is only one of a number of) and launching new initiatives throughout analysis, schooling, and the way we manage ourselves which have set us up nicely for long-term success. Her regular, considerate, even-handed management is acknowledged all through our neighborhood. Having labored intently with Magda, I need to add particularly, in case it isn’t as seen, two issues: how she has sought out recommendation to achieve consensus and develop new leaders, and the way she has merely put in an infinite period of time. Her sabbatical has been earned a thousand instances over, however I’m additionally relieved that she isn’t going away and might be a key mentor and chief within the Allen College going ahead. Thanks, Magda!
I need to guarantee everybody the transition might be easy and never the reason for any important modifications – Magda has been planning to step down, and the workers and college management are prepared. That’s to not say we gained’t proceed to alter, in some methods quickly, as a result of that’s what we do as a number one college in a quickly altering discipline and world. These are difficult instances! The discussions I hear all through the college on how we should always adapt how we educate and study, how we conduct analysis, and the way we run the college’s operations are sturdy and thrilling. They’re additionally a whole lot of work by lots of people, and I need to say that this work shouldn’t be as ‘invisible’ as it could appear.
Whereas these are difficult instances in a number of methods, additionally it is a time of nice alternative. Know-how continues to alter all features of our lives and we’re nicely positioned to create new applied sciences that make everybody’s lives higher and that assist our planet, whereas additionally influencing insurance policies to make sure accountable use of latest applied sciences. I see many alternatives for us to develop our partnerships with different items, with exterior collaborators, and inside our College to perform these vital targets whereas educating a extremely expert, educated, and moral subsequent technology of laptop scientists and laptop engineers.
Let me additionally emphasize that “the Allen College” wants your assist in reaching our aspirations. No Director, interim or not, can alone do even a small fraction of every part we intention to do. To be trustworthy, I discover it a bit odd once I hear “the Allen College does X” or “the Allen College thinks Y.” “The Allen College” is us, nothing extra and nothing much less, a group of hard-working folks with various personalities, concepts, and most popular espresso/tea orders. (Unusual truth about me: I don’t like tea.) I’m proud to be working alongside every of you, and I’m excited for us to proceed working collectively to set the long run course of the Allen College.
As Magda talked about, the rationale for not having carried out a Director search during the last yr is that it’s sophisticated by the continued university-level discussions and processes on Computing, Information Science, and AI at UW, and the way the College ought to manage itself. I used to be on the related “Job Power” that just lately accomplished its report, and now the Provost and President might want to make choices and launch subsequent steps. When now we have details about these subsequent steps and the way they have an effect on us, together with the timing for a non-interim director search, I’ll make sure you let you recognize. We must be excited by this – UW is working critically on how you can finest place itself to guide in computing within the a long time forward and the Allen College will, in fact, be a key a part of that.
Thanks prematurely for every part we’ll accomplish within the yr forward. Please don’t hesitate to cease me within the hallway or ship me an electronic mail along with your concepts and even simply to say howdy.
Greatest,
Dan
