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Citation
For his pioneering work on RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing), his course
series on RISC that produced a whole generation of academicians, and for his novel approach to teaching
computer science to non-CS majors.
Full Citation
It is hard to conceive of a professor who has done more for the advancement of
education in computer science and engineering than Professor Patterson. Through
his pioneering work on RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing), Professor
Patterson has gained national and international recognition as a leader in the
advancement of computer technology. But what is equally important is that he
has played a major role as an expositor of his ideas through teaching, writing
and lecturing.
Professor Patterson's teaching is a striking demonstration of the importance of
the interaction between teaching and research. His technique of involving
students in team projects to develop innovative computer designs has played a
key role in the development of RISC. He led three generations of RISC courses
and seminars, involving students in each step of the design, fabrication and
testing of a micro computer-on-a-chip. The RISC project not only produced a
profound impact on computer technology, it also resulted in a whole generation
of academicians. Ten of the participating students have joined academic
departments and some of the lead students on the project have won other ACM
awards for distinguished dissertations.
He also developed a novel approach to bring more computer science education to
non-CS majors at Berkeley. He has transferred his success to other institutions
through a textbook that he co-authored with his teaching assistants,
Computing Unbound: Using Computers in the Arts and Sciences and its
accompanying laboratory manuals.
His latest educational initiative is in his own field, computer architecture.
He has co-authored the text Computer Architecture: A Quantitive Approach,
and has made videotapes of his lectures available at cost to other universities.
In summary, Professor Patterson is a quintessential exampled of a professor who
combines highest intellectual ability and technical expertise with a total
dedication to his role as a teacher, mentor, and friend of his students.
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