Luis von Ahn is one of Discover’s “50 Best Minds of Science”

News

The latest issue of Discover Magazine has a feature on the “50 best minds of science”. No surprise, but our very own Luis von Ahn is on the list. (As of this writing, the feature is not available in the online edition, so you’ll have to run to the newstand to read all about it.) Of the 50, there are only two computer scientists, the other being our very good colleague, Jon Kleinberg (form Cornell). Interestingly, both Luis and Jon are relatively young scientists. Many of the others on the list are much more senior, such as Stephen Hawking.

The celebrity status, within the scientific community, that Luis enjoys is quite impressive, especially since it is easy to see such depth in his research and teaching. At the same time, there are really big demands on his time that can make it hard to keep up with the core work. For example, last week a production crew was on campus to shoot a feature on Luis for the PBS Nova ScienceNOW television show. I was interviewed for about an hour and a half — an unusually long time for me. But Luis was asked to devote several days to this. Of course, we’re all looking forward to seeing the show.

One nice impact is on the public perception of computer science research. Between Randy Pausch and Luis von Ahn, a lot of people have gotten exposed to the excitement of the field.

Peter Lee @ November 11, 2008