Subject: Prof.Skiena invites U to Donut Hour Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 22:55:01 -0400 (EDT) Hi Friends, The Grand Opening of Donut Hour this academic year is being hosted by Prof. Steven Skiena the founder of Donut Hour. He is also an algorist! These days his focus is on algorithms in computational biology. Recently I was fortunate to get an opportunity to take his donutview which is attached at the end of this mail. For professors instead of a brief biography I have thought of geting such donutviews whenever possible. Hope you would like the idea. I will take this opportunity to clearify specially to the new students that you do not need to host a Donut Hour to be elligible to attend it. Hosting Donut Hour is voluntary. Hope to see you all at 3pm. sincerely, Donut Admin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking through the Donut: A Donutview with Prof. Steven Skiena --------------------------------------------------------------- Donut Admin (DA): So, should we start the donutview. Prof. Steven Skiena (SS): (laughs) This is too sinister. You better not ask me anything that's too provocative, it will make it into the tape. DA: Don't worry, I will show it to you before publishing. You can edit it later if you wish. You can remove all the objectionable things. SS: OK. Fine. OK. DA: What other places have you worked before coming to Stony Brook? SS: Before Stony Brook I finished my PhD at the university of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I got graduated in 88. Before that I had a bunch of summer jobs at different places. I worked at Apple's research center, Bell labs, Lincoln laboratories in Boston. So, you know, I had a bunch of summer jobs but I didn't work for a living until I came here. DA: Have you set any future goals for yourself? SS: Well, I am now 38 years old. One of my next goals it to turn 39. Then 40 and then all the way upto a hundred and twenty. A.., other goals..., a.., you know one, one of the... I guess my major goal is to continue to work on interesting problems. Some how when you study algorithms, it seems that the way that you usually work is not towards a particular big goal that's sitting out there, but it's sort of.., a.. sort of you are constantly encountering problems and are drifting in different ways. I certainly had no idea I would become interested in computational biology until after... I have been in Stony Brook for several years. If you had told me a few years ago that that's what I would be doing, I might have said that you are crazy. DA: What made you think of Donut hour? SS: Good Question. Donut hour was a tradition at the university of Illinois. Every friday at 3 o'clock, which happens to be the same time as here, all the graduate students and faculty would meet for a donut hour. And this was a big thing and it was a good thing. Because Urbana is even larger department so you never see certain people except at donut hour. That's where everybody sort of hung out. When I first came here there wasn't an institution like that. And it seemed like a very important thing to do. And I think it's been a success. It's been running itself, you know, for the last 11-12 years. And, you know, in your good leadership I expect it to continue to thrive for some more years. DA: Tell us about your interests other than academics. SS: Other than academics. a.. I am interested in a.. What am I interested in?.. Well, sort of, I am interested in the world around me. I spend a certain amount of time each day reading the newspaper and seeing what the world around me is like. May be more interesting interests are: I am interested in sports. Particularly certain aspects of gambling and particular sport called Jie Lie. Along the line I have written a murder mystery which remains unpublished but someday I would be interested in doing that. I am capable of juggling and riding a unicycle. One of the biggest interests is New York city. I spend weekends in the city and its very important part of my life. DA: What would you have been if you were not into academics? SS: Well, presumably if you say, if I am to be a computer person, I would presumably at that point be in the industry. In some kind of, you know, there are interesting things to do in industry and I might very well be doing something there. May be a more interesting question would be what would I be if I were not a computer scientist or a technical person. I have always said that when I retire from being a computer scientist I'll become a Elvis impersonator. DA: I have heard that you are a diehard supporter of the Democratic Party. Is that true? SS: I am indeed. I am indeed a card carrying member of the democratic party. DA: Why? SS: Well, this starts to get a little dicey to discuss. But, some how democratic party in a general sense has always been representing the broader people where as the republican party in broader sense has represented the upper classes and things like that. And some how you get the sense that, some how, I find that being in the general interest of the population seems to be a healthier thing. DA: Introduce us to your wife. SS: My wife is Renee Skiena. She is now studying physical therapy at Stony Brook. We met when she was a manager in an Electronic company. She is very nice and I like her. DA: What's you favourite food? SS: That's a good question. Am.. my favourite style of eating is ethnic food. One of the things I like doing in the city is some how go into restaurants from places around the world. You can eat your way around the world in Manhattan if you know what you are doing. So I have a favourite tibetan restaurant, then I have a favourite, you know, Indian restaurant, then, all kinds of restaurants from different places around the world. So I kind of like eating interesting cuisines from around the world. DA: Thank you for this donutview and for hosting donut hour.