Growing Computer Science Department Welcomes New Faculty

Northwestern Computer Science welcomes new chair, seven tenure-track faculty members, and expanded teaching faculty.

In its third year of an ambitious growth initiative, Northwestern Engineering's Department of Computer Science has hired a new department chair and is in the process of hiring 20 tenure-track faculty members as well as more than doubling the size of its teaching faculty. We welcome the following members to our expanding team.

New Barris Chair of Computer Science 

Samir KhullerSamir Khuller joined Northwestern Engineering in March 2019 as the inaugural Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science. He moved from the University of Maryland, where he was the department chair of computer science and helped obtain the largest gift in the university’s history to build the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Innovation. There, he also secured three new endowed chairs and professorships; hired 22 new tenured, tenure-track, and teaching faculty members; and launched the Corporate Partners in Computing program and the Maryland Center for Women in Computing. Khuller’s research is in theoretical computer science, with a specific focus on graph algorithms, discrete optimization, and scheduling.

Seven New Tenure-Track Faculty Members 

Christos DimoulasChristos Dimoulas joined us as an assistant professor in 2018 from Harvard (postdoc) and Northeastern University (PhD). Dimoulas studies the design and semantics of programming languages, with the goal to develop programming languages technology that facilitates the construction of secure and robust component-based software systems.

Jessica Hullman joined us as the Breed Assistant Professor from the University of Washington in 2018. Hullman is jointly appointed in computer science and journalism. Jessica HullmanHullman’s research focuses on visualizing data and uncertainty, helping people make sense of complex information, and in particular to reason about data under uncertainty. Hullman was awarded an NSF CAREER award in 2018 and the Microsoft Faculty Fellowship in 2019. She received her PhD in information science from the University of Michigan in 2013.

Han LiuHan Liu joined us as an associate professor in 2018 from Princeton University and is jointly appointed in computer science and statistics. Liu’s work centers on statistical machine learning. His work on sparsity in nonparametric statistics, including sparse additive models, and on graphical model, including paranormal model family, has been well-cited and has significantly expanded the power of statistical models used in machine learning. Liu was awarded the Presidential Early CAREER Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in July 2019. He received his PhD in machine learning and statistics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2011.

Konstantin MakarychevKonstantin (Kostya) Makarychev joined us as an associate professor in 2017 from Microsoft Research. A theoretical computer science researcher, Makarychev is interested in designing efficient algorithms for computationally hard problems. His research aims to introduce new core techniques and design general principles for developing and analyzing algorithms that work in theory and practice. His research interests include approximation algorithms, beyond worst-case analysis, and applications of high-dimension geometry to computer science. He received his PhD from Princeton University in 2007.

Nell O'RourkeEleanor (Nell) O'Rourke joined us as the June and Donald Brewer Junior [Assistant] Professor in 2016 from the University of Washington, where she earned her PhD in computer science and engineering. She is jointly appointed between computer science and learning sciences. O’Rourke studies data-driven learning environments and educational games to improve student motivation, provide personalized learning experiences, and support formative assessment. She is a codirector of the Delta Lab and is a founding faculty member of the joint CS+LS PhD program.

Xiao Wang

Xiao Wang joined us an assistant professor in 2019 after his postdoctoral fellowship at MIT and after his PhD in computer science was awarded from the University of Maryland in 2018. Wang’s research focuses on applied cryptography, specifically on designing efficient privacy-preserving systems based on secure multi-party computation.

Marcelo Worsley

Marcelo Worsley joined us as an assistant professor in 2016 from Stanford University, where he earned his PhD in learning sciences and technology design. He is jointly appointed between computer science and learning sciences. Worsley is the founder of the TIILT Lab (Technological Innovations for Inclusive Learning and Teaching) and is focused on advancing society's understanding of how students learn in complex learning environments by forging new opportunities for using multimodal technology.

Expanded Teaching Faculty 

Teaching faculty doubled in response to overwhelming enrollment, with substantial additional investment in postdoctoral teaching resources. Highlights include: Sara Sood (from Pomona College), Vincent St-Amour (from Northeastern University), Stephen Tarzia (from Northwestern University), Jesse Tov (from Northeastern University), and Sarah Van Wart (from University of California, Berkeley).

Join our growing team

Northwestern University continues its initiative to grow and transform the Department of Computer Science. We seek candidates for tenure-track faculty positions — in core computer science areas and collaborative "CS+X" appointments with our numerous top-ranked schools — as well as non-tenure track teaching faculty. Learn more about open positions.

McCormick News Article