Juris Hartmanis, the Walter R. Read Professor of Engineering and professor of computer science at Cornell University, has been appointed assistant director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE).

An expert in the theory of computation and computational complexity, Hartmanis will lead the directorate which has responsibility for NSF's efforts with the Internet, supercomputers, robotics and intelligent systems, information processing systems and computational research.

"We are thrilled to have someone with the perspective and expertise of Dr. Hartmanis," NSF Director Neal Lane said. "He will be an exciting leader of the directorate at a time when computers are affecting nearly every aspect of American life and changing every field of science and engineering."

Hartmanis, who begins his new role this month, has been at Cornell since 1965. He was a founding member of the computer science department and served as its first chair. Prior to that, he helped bring computer science research to the General Electric Research Laboratory. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and in 1993 he received the Turing Award, the highest award in computer science. He also is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the New York State Academy of Sciences, and he is a foreign member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.

"It's been a magnificent ride, like sitting in a cockpit and observing a brand new science being created. I am delighted and surprised at what impact computer science is having," Hartmanis said. "When I decided to be a computer scientist, I couldn't imagine the dramatic impact it has had."

Hartmanis was born in Latvia and emigrated to Germany after World War II. He received his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of Marburg, then came to the United States to receive a master's from the University of Kansas City and a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology, both in mathematics. Hartmanis then taught at Cornell and Ohio State University before going to GE.

Hartmanis sees the exponential growth in computing power coupled with the growth in communications capabilities as one of the most exciting aspects of computer science today.

In 1992, Hartmanis chaired a National Research Council Study which resulted in the book "Computing the Future: A Broader Agenda for Computer Science and Engineering." The two years of work with the committee, he said, helped focus his interest on computer science policy.

NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote and advance scientific progress in the United States. The CISE directorate awards more than $275 million annually.