A Letter from Mustaque Ahamad
I joined Georgia Tech in 1985, arriving at the School of Information and Computer Science (ICS) when Rich DeMillo was already a key member of its faculty. Over the next four decades, ICS transformed itself into a world-class college of computing ranked among the very best. It is not hyperbole to say that Rich’s bold vision had a great deal to do with what the College has become. He has been a mentor and colleague who has profoundly influenced my professional journey — and the same is true for so many colleagues here and beyond.
When it comes to leadership and innovation in computing education, Rich is the College’s main architect. The Threads curriculum, which he championed and which has since become a model studied by universities across the country, expressed a philosophy: that as computing broadens as a discipline, we must offer students paths that help them create unique identities as future professionals. He was also a pioneer in understanding how technology would transform education and launched C21U to prove it. That foundational work continues to drive programs like OMSCS.
Rich’s relentless focus on innovation is also the reason for Georgia Tech’s top ranking in cybersecurity education and research. He returned to Georgia Tech to lead the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and served as founding chair of the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy in 2020.
It is worth saying plainly: Georgia Tech’s College of Computing is ranked number five nationally, and Rich DeMillo is a significant reason why. What Georgia Tech can offer that is genuinely rare is both prestige and pioneering thinking that has passed the test of time. Rich didn’t just help build the College; he left behind a way of thinking about computing education and research that will lead and have impact long after the decisions that set it in motion.
The most fitting way to honor his legacy is to advance it. In the current funding climate, a faculty member at a place like Georgia Tech arrives with ideas, but the pressures of grant-writing and teaching leave little room for bold, cross-disciplinary thinking. Targeted support can allow a scholar to take the curricular risk that produces the next Threads — the kind of idea that doesn’t fit neatly into existing structures but changes everything once it becomes reality. It can fund the seed research that makes a big grant competitive, the course release that lets someone pursue a problem before the field has caught up enough to fund it, the collaborations that turn a promising scholar into a field-defining thought leader. These conditions don’t happen without deliberate investment.
Best,
Mustaque Ahamad
Professor and Interim Chair
School of Cybersecurity and Privacy