John Hennessy Interview (page: 4 / 8) President of Stanford University	Print Interview

At what point did you realize what you wanted to do with your life?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. John Hennessy: When we did the science fair project, which I did with a good friend of mine, Steve Angle, I realized that I had a real interest in technology at that point, and really getting involved in technology. We really didn't know what we were doing. We could have gone out and read some books -- college textbooks of course. But we could have gone out and read some books, and probably cut the amount of time we were spending on the project -- that we had to spend on it to make this thing work -- in half, but we were a little bit naïve. Nonetheless, perseverance, hard work brought us to the right conclusion, and we had something that worked, something we could take great pride in, and I think that really convinced me that I was interested in technology as a field, and going into something in the computing area.

[ Key to Success ] Passion

Was it because this was a new technology? Because there was a new frontier to explore?

John Hennessy: I think that was certainly the case. I think it also played to something which I've always enjoyed, which is problem solving. You could really think about this as solving a problem. Computing is really about problem solving. All of engineering is about solving complex problems, using mathematics and science as your tools. And that's probably what I have enjoyed the most, and why I found that project interesting, and why I decided to pursue that career direction.

So when you went to college, did you already know you wanted to go to graduate school, and that this was the direction you were headed in?

John Hennessy: Well, probably when I got to college, I knew I was interested in computing.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I started out in electrical engineering, but then I had the opportunity to get more involved in computing, and two things happened that really shaped my life. One was I had the opportunity to be an assistant in a programming course after I had completed the course, and that really kindled my love for teaching and working with other students, and helping them understand what was wrong with their programs and how to make the software they were writing work properly. The other thing that happened is I had the opportunity to work on a research project with a faculty member to build a computer, and that really kindled my interest for being involved in research and working on things in that direction. And about my junior year, I decided that I wanted to pursue graduate work in computer science and that I wanted to go on for a Ph.D. So the first thing I had to do, here was an electrical engineer whose math background was completely in calculus and differential equations -- which it would be for an electrical engineer -- who wanted to go on to a computer science degree and had no discrete math, no logic. So I turned around and jumped into a junior level math major course without the prerequisites, which was a startling experience for me. I had never worked so hard in my life. All of a sudden I was working very hard, because I was now jumping into a different field, but I really enjoyed it. That convinced me that I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science, and I started off in that direction.

[ Key to Success ] Preparation

Growing up, did you have any heroes or role models?

John Hennessy: Well, certainly my father. If you're an engineer and your father is an engineer, he's one of your role models.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I think that was a time when obviously there was tremendous growing interest in technology. It was a time when certainly John F. Kennedy was considered a major leader for the country, and lots of young people growing up with me thought of him in that way. But I think it was also a time when we realized technology and science were going to really set an agenda for the future. So the people who were involved in that, astronauts certainly, it was a time when space was a very exciting part of what was happening in the country. And we all, I think, admired the astronauts and thought about what they were doing and aspired to do something in that realm. For a lot of us it came out in different ways, but I think we thought a lot about that.

Did you think about becoming an astronaut?

John Hennessy: No, I didn't. I became intrigued by technology earlier, and that was more intriguing than trying to fly a space mission. Now today, given the opportunity to go up into space, I think we'd all happily take that opportunity.

John Hennessy Interview, Page: 1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8