By TALIA JUBAS
Prof. Jon Kleinberg ’93, computer science, has been named interim dean for the Faculty of Computing and Information Science, replacing Dean Haym Hirsh while he is on personal leave, the University announced Tuesday. Kleinberg will hold the position until December 2015.
Provost Kent Fuchs appointed Kleinberg to the position with the hope that he will provide valuable insight from his academic and professional experience.
“Professor Kleinberg is one of Cornell’s most distinguished scholars and educators,” Fuchs said in an email.
Fuchs said he foresees Kleinberg continuing Hirsh’s work, such as aiding the important research being done by CIS faculty and students.
“I expect he will focus during the year on hiring new faculty and working to enhance even further the visibility and reputation of Cornell’s superb Computing and Information Sciences programs,” Fuchs said.
Prof. Eva Tardos, computer science, agreed with Fuchs’ sentiments.
“Jon is a great colleague, a great scientist and a great teacher,” Tardos said. “I expect great things from him also in his new role as CIS dean.”
Tsvi Tanin ’16, a computer science major currently in Kleinberg’s course, Informa-tion Science 2040: Networks, said he thinks Kleinberg will be effective in leading the department.
“I think he has a remarkable ability to explain complicated, abstract ideas in language that anybody can understand,” he said.
Kleinberg, who joined the faculty in 1996, is a Tisch University professor and the chair of the Department of Information Science. His research deals primarily with social and information networks, especially their function on the web and in social media.
Kleinberg’s background and research involvements will likely help him navigate his new position as the head of the faculty, according to Tanin.
“The field that he’s in is actually a really nice intersection between … computer science and information science,” he said. “His expertise actually lends itself to be a nice middle ground between all the different faculty members [in computing and information science].”
Kleinberg has received a National Science Foundation Award, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, in addition to grants from Facebook, Google, Yahoo! and the National Science Foundation, to support his work.
Kleinberg is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Kleinberg graduated from Cornell in 1993 with a bachelor of science degree in computer science. He received his master’s of science and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994 and 1996, respectively.