History of the Computer Sciences Department at Purdue University

The previous chapter1 describes how the first Department of Computer Sciences in the United States was established at Purdue University in October 1962. This chapter describes how the department found its identity and matured into one of the strong departments at Purdue and in the nation. There are three natural phases to this development. In the 1960s the effort was to define courses, degree programs, and indirectly the field itself. The 1970s saw the department’s maturation and growth into a typical university department. The 1980s started with a series of crises, some nationwide and some internal to Purdue, which eventually gave the department a considerably different character than it had in the 1970s. Chapter 2 is organized around these three periods.