B.S. Mathematics, Oklahoma State U. 1954
M.S. Mathematics, Oklahoma State U. 1956
John's current position has a long title: W. Brooks Fortune Professor of Computer Science, Professor of Mathematics, and Head of the Department of Computer Sciences--all at Purdue University. He divides his time between administration (40%), research (40%), and teaching and professional service (20%). He is also Editor-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software and Chair of the Computing Research Association.
John feels that the most exciting of these activities is the research, as he is deeply involved in trying to design high-level computer systems for science and engineering applications. His mathematics education was his passport into the computing field--since there were no computer science programs in the 1950's--and, even now, he relies heavily on mathematics in his research. The problems of scientific research cannot be attacked without sophisticated mathematical tools.
(P.S. John says that students with strong backgrounds in mathematics, science, and computer science are prized as research assistants for his projects. It is a lot to ask of a student to learn all of this material, but the payoff for the successful student is unlimited opportunity for the future.)