Coding Our Way to the Top

The need for computer science is no secret. With the rise of coding as the new literacy of the twenty-first century, and the ascent of “Introduction to Computer Science I,” better known as CS50, to the most-enrolled class at Harvard, there is an unmistakable need for Harvard to prepare its students for the workforce by investing in computer science funding and faculty. Steve Ballmer’s generous recent gift to the University will expand Harvard’s computer science faculty by 12 professorships and carry its legacy of excellence into the realm of coding in years to come.

Ballmer’s large (albeit unspecified) gift comes in the wake of a growing interest from Harvard’s student body in computer science.  The computer science concentration has nearly doubled in size in the last two years, with its introductory course, CS50, displacing the introductory Economics course, “Principles of Economics,” as the largest class offered at the College this semester with 780 enrolled.

By comparison, Harvard’s competitors have capitalized on this shift in interest to Silicon Valley. Stanford, as highlighted in the recent comparison in Fifteen Minutes magazine, is outshining the Ivy League in technology and computer science with its reputation for innovation and proximity to Silicon Valley. Although Harvard has just recently invested in technology and entrepreneurship projects such as the Harvard Innovation Labs, where Ballmer’s gift was announced, Stanford has helped spawn almost 5,000 companies in high technology and other related fields. Ballmer himself listed MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, and possibly the University of California at Berkeley as what he perceived to be the universally agreed “top places” for computer science, but added that moving forward, he wanted Harvard on that list.

While Harvard will still maintain its role as a bastion of the humanities and the liberal arts, an expansion in Computer Science in no way detracts from our existing strengths. If Harvard seeks to continue its leadership in higher education as a whole, it’s crucial that we invest in computer science. Software is becoming the language of our world, and Harvard’s mission of training its graduates for leadership in the workforce needs strength in SEAS as well as the liberal arts. Given the upcoming increase in faculty, and the continued support from the Harvard community, there’s no reason that moving forward, our university will not continue to lead the charts in all areas we can.

The next Zuckerberg—or Ballmer—will come from Harvard yet.