Northwestern CS Welcomes New Teaching-Track Faculty Members

Northwestern Engineering’s Department of Computer Science welcomes new faculty of instruction Anjali Agarwal, Dietrich Geisler, and Yiji Zhang. They join the growing team of teaching-track faculty members who support undergraduate and graduate students through teaching, advising, and curriculum innovation.

“In the last several years, we have been incredibly fortunate to hire the very best talent in the teaching-track market,” said Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at the McCormick School of Engineering. “Kudos to Sara Sood and our entire team who did an amazing job of identifying top applicants, as well as building a wonderful community that so many want to be part of.

“I would especially like to thank the Dean's office and Rich Lueptow who provided much needed support to build up our teaching-track team to keep pace with rising enrollments. I am very proud of what they do every single day, and the new CS electives that they have helped develop. Our students are incredibly fortunate to get this level of education.”

We asked Agarwal, Geisler, and Zhang to share what excites them about working with the Northwestern Computer Science community, a source of unexpected inspiration, and their advice for students.

Anjali Agarwal

Agarwal joins in September as a lecturer of computer science. Most recently, she was a graduate student instructor for a discrete math course at the University of Washington, where she earned an MS in computer science and bachelor’s degrees in computer science and mathematics.

Agarwal’s pedagogical interests focus on integrating discovery-based learning methods into CS courses — including theory, data structures, and introductory programming — to cultivate curiosity, discovery, and critical thinking. She aims to support students with diverse computing backgrounds in core CS courses.

What excites you about working with the Northwestern Computer Science community?

Everyone I've met at Northwestern CS truly cares about students, pedagogy, and bettering the department. The faculty are just so kind and genuine. I'm also really excited about the outreach opportunities.

What is one piece of advice you’d offer your students?

It can be helpful to think about what you hope to do with your computing degree. Don't feel pressured to conform to what your peers are doing. Take the time to explore and determine the impact you want to make on society.

What's the most unexpected or surprising source of inspiration for your research or teaching?

I volunteered in an elementary classroom for a while and was so blown away by the classroom management and interpersonal skills required to be an elementary school teacher. I've learned a lot about fostering individual connections in the classroom and investing in students at a very personal level from K-12 teachers.

Any interesting hobbies?

I really enjoy paddleboarding when the weather is nice! I'll definitely be bringing my paddleboard with me to Evanston.

What are you most looking forward to about living/working in Evanston or Chicago?

I'm very excited to be by the lake!

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Dietrich Geisler

Geisler will join as an assistant professor of instruction in September after completing a PhD in computer science at Cornell University. They earned bachelor’s degrees in computer science, applied mathematics, and physical chemistry at the University of Utah.

Broadly interested in programming languages and compilers, Geisler develops systems for reasoning about domain-specific problems in 3D graphics and GPU optimization. They aim to engage students in the connection between programming languages and domain-specific problems, especially with respect to hardware-aware software design.

Geisler is eager to teach a variety of topics, including introductory sequence programming, hardware for software engineers, C++/Rust program design and compiler implementation, 3D graphics programming, and game development as an interdisciplinary practice.

What excites you about working with the Northwestern Computer Science community?

Northwestern University is in a unique position of having the resources and research of a top-tier university while having the location and culture for significant outreach and community engagement. I am excited to work with the diverse group of excellent students that attend Northwestern. Additionally, I am looking forward to joining Northwestern's already-extensive computer science instructional team, to both learn how to improve my own pedagogy and hopefully contribute to Northwestern’s high standards for education.

What is one piece of advice you’d offer your students?

Learning is not about getting the right answer the first time you are asked a question. Embrace your wrong answers as a path for feedback and insight rather than as mistakes.

What's the most unexpected or surprising source of inspiration for your research or teaching?

I discovered a surprising number of interesting phenomena while exploring color and color spaces. I thought I had some clever solutions to colors figured out while working on Gator, my first research language, but this was an illusion (like all color is). Reality often does not match our nice models and abstractions, and understanding comes from our ability to decompose and manipulate these models.

Any interesting hobbies?

I like drawing (badly) — specifically digital painting (no generative AI for me, please). I also enjoy rock climbing and gaming, both board and video games. I'm working on making a proper video game in Unreal 5 with a full team of artists and designers, purely as a hobby volunteer.

What are you most looking forward to about living/working in Evanston or Chicago?

The incredible art and music scene in Chicago is a massive draw for me. I'm especially interested in being a regular member at the Art Institute. The board game scene in Evanston also holds appeal for me, and I'm hoping to be more active in regular board game nights.

I'm also excited about the walkability and public transport in Evanston — I can't drive myself, and the area around Northwestern is perfect for walking and biking.

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Yiji Zhang

Zhang will join as an assistant professor of instruction in September. Prior to joining Northwestern, she was a tenure-track assistant professor of computer science and software engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Passionate about software quality, Zhang’s research interests include automated debugging, automated testing, and compiler verification.

She earned a PhD in computer science from the University of Illinois Chicago, an MS in computer science and engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and a BS in software engineering from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China.

What excites you about working with the Northwestern Computer Science community?

I look forward to exploring effective and efficient strategies to incorporate hands-on practices in large classrooms. I am also excited about the potential of teaching computing to non-CS students. Additionally, the learning sciences program in the School of Education and Social Policy excites me for the endless learning and collaboration opportunities it brings!

What is one piece of advice you’d offer your students?

Write things down — from plans to questions to random thoughts. There is only so much a brain can hold.

What's the most unexpected or surprising source of inspiration for your research or teaching?

I started learning how to crochet a year ago. After reading different tutorials, watching many videos, and trying it out myself, I resonated with how an expert's perspectives may not make sense to a novice. This reminded me to review my instructions to students and how I need to learn to comprehend from students' perspectives.

Any other interesting hobbies?

I enjoy chorus pieces from the Baroque period. I look forward to finding a choir to join again!

What are you most looking forward to about living/working in Evanston or Chicago?

The diversity of minds. I truly believe that when people with different cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and methodologies work together it produces the best results. Outside work, I also want to learn more and more about other cultures. Chicago is one of the most diverse cities for this to happen!