The Department of Computer Science History

The Department of Computer Science
The Department of Computer Science is a dynamic member of the George Washington University community, offering accredited undergraduate programs in Computer Science (alone or with Premedical option), and graduate degrees at the Masters, Professional, and Doctoral level in a number of areas of concentration. The Department prepares its students for exciting careers in medicine, films, business, government, and engineering.

In 2002, the US government designated the GWU School of Engineering and Applied Science as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education - one of only 36 universities in the US to share that designation. Since then, the Department of Computer Science has established one of the nation's best computer security and information assurance programs. Among the Departments achievements in the burgeoning area of computer security and information assurance:

• The Department's new high-performance computing laboratory is a member of one of the five teams across the country to earn a slot on a US Department of Defense project to conceive and produce the next generation of supercomputers.
• The Portable Education Network (PEN), developed by the Department of Computer Science and built with support from the US Department of Defense, simulates the Internet but is not connected to the Internet, allowing students to get hands-on experience learning how to better defend computer systems and programs on the Internet from various kinds of attacks.

The Department of Computer Science is chaired by Professor Abdou Youssef, and has 19 full-time faculty and approximately 50 adjunct faculty. Among the CS faculty, are two Fellows of the ACM. The Department has an undergraduate enrollment of 140, MS enrollment of 240, and doctoral enrollment of 100. Most of the classes have fewer than 15 students. The Department enjoys a research expenditure of over $3.5 million per year.

The School of Engineering and Applied Science

The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) was organized in 1884 as the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University. It was named in honor of William W. Corcoran, president of the University's Board of Trustees from 1869 to 1888. The school was among the first to accept women for degree candidacy in engineering. The organization and offerings of the school have evolved over the years, but throughout most of its history the program has been characterized by its emphasis on the principles guiding the advancement of technology. The current name was adopted in 1962.
Through its five departments - Civil and Environmental Engineering; Computer Science; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Engineering Management and Systems Engineering; and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - the School of Engineering and Applied Science offers the bachelor of science and bachelor of arts degrees, graduate study leading to the degrees of Master of Science, Master of Engineering Management, and Doctor of Science, and to the professional degrees of Engineer and Applied Scientist. The School also offers many graduate-level certificate programs through its departments.

Engineering at SEAS encompasses a broad range of disciplines, with a strategic focus on biomedical engineering, transportation/safety and security, high performance computing, and information technology/telecommunications. SEAS maintains several state-of-the-art research facilities where faculty and students work in partnership with public and private sector organizations. Among these is the GW earthquake simulator - or "shake table" - the only one of its kind, created with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Located in Washington, DC and the northern Virginia Technology Corridor, SEAS gives its students access to the people who shape technological change - from world-class scientists to cutting-edge policymakers - and the organizations that support it, from the National Science Foundation and the NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center to the Naval Research Laboratory and the Library of Congress.

The University
The George Washington University, which celebrated its 175th anniversary in 1996, grew out of the desire of our country's first President to establish a national institution of higher learning. When GW opened its doors in 1821 as Columbian College in the District of Columbia, it boasted three faculty members, one tutor, and 30 students. The name of the institution was changed in 1873 to Columbian University and in 1904 to The George Washington University. By 1918, the University had moved to the Foggy Bottom neighborhood in the heart of Washington, DC. The more than 90 buildings, including 14 residence halls, are situated on 43 acres bordered by the White House, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the State Department, and the World Bank, as well as numerous federal agencies, national galleries, and museums.

GW's Virginia Campus, opened in 1991 for graduate studies, research projects, and professional development programs, is located along the high-tech corridor in Loudoun County. In 1998, GW established The George Washington University at Mount Vernon College in Northwest Washington.

Currently, the University's enrollments total more than 24,000, of which 10,400 are undergraduates, over 12,000 are graduate and professional students, and more than 1,000 are nondegree students. The students come from all 50 states and about 125 different countries.

GW is a vibrant and diverse community of scholars that utilizes the full resources of academia, while drawing from and contributing to government, industry, and the City. George Washington University's standing is solidified as a top-ranked institution.