Peter lee
Peter Lee is Department Head and Professor of Computer Science. He has been a member of the Carnegie Mellon University faculty since 1987. His research interests lie primarily in programming languages and systems, particularly in areas related to program analysis, verification, types, and optimization.
In 1996 he co-developed the concept of proof-carrying code (PCC), an accomplishment that led to a new field of research and inspired a variety of computer security applications. The seminal paper on PCC was a best-paper award winner at OSDI’96 and selected in 2006 for the SIGOPS Hall of Fame. PCC technology is also the basis of a US patent, numerous invited seminars, short courses, and distinguished lectures. Several other of Dr. Lee’s collaborative research results have also been recognized as “standing the test of time,” for example with the “TIL paper” receiving the 2006 award for Most Influential Paper at PLDI’96, and his three co-authored papers in the SIGPLAN 20-year retrospective of the most important PLDI papers.
While continuing an active research program, Peter Lee has served in several administrative roles. From 1999 to 2004, he served as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate programs, directing the undergraduate programs in the School of Computer Science (SCS). In this capacity, he saw the SCS programs rise to national prominence, including a #2 ranking in the Gourman Report and a five-fold increase in the number of women enrolled. In 2006, Dr. Lee was appointed the university’s Vice Provost for Research, and then moved from that position to the Department Head for the Computer Science Department in 2007. Although he held the Vice Provost position for just one year, he was quick to make major impacts on several of the university’s strategic research initiatives. Now, as the Head of the Computer Science Department, Dr. Lee oversees a department with a roster of more than 70 faculty members, 160 Ph.D. students, and 560 B.S. students, and with over $30M in annual research expenditures -- by any measure, one of the very best research departments in the world.
Education
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Ph.D., Computer and Communication Sciences, completed May, 1987.
Professional Background
Peter Lee has also been an exceptionally active servant to the academic community and to the nation. In 2005 he was elected a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. He is also an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association, and today chairs its Government Affairs Committee. A sampling of other service activities include the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council, the GENI Science Council, the ACM SIGPLAN Executive Committee, and the “red team” of DARPA’s Information Science and Technology Board. He is a member of the senior advisor group for DARPA’s Information Exploitation Office and was formerly a member of the Army Science Board. An award-winning teacher, Peter Lee is called upon in diverse venues, including distinguished lectures at major universities, government and corporate advisory panels, and court testimony (most notably the Sun v. Microsoft “Java lawsuit”).