COLLEGE STATION - In most classes a grade of C is just making it. But to world-renowned computer scientist Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup and the rest of the computer science world, it is the most widely used language supporting object-oriented programming. Stroustrup, the designer and original implementer of C , has accepted the College of Engineering Chair in Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science at Texas A&M University and will move his research to Texas A&M. Using C as his tool, Stroustrup pioneered the use of object-oriented and generic programming techniques in application areas where efficiency is a premium. Stroustrup’s book The C Programming Language is the most widely read book of its kind and has been translated into 14 languages. A later book, The Design and Evolution of C , broke new ground in the description of the way a programming language is shaped by ideas, ideals, problems and practical constraints. "Dr. Stroustrup will bring great visibility to the Department of Computer Science and to A&M," said Jennifer Welch, head of the computer science department. "In addition to continuing his research in programming languages and tools and finding new collaborators here, he is looking forward to teaching." Stroustrup was named one of "the 20 most influential people in the computer industry in the last 20 years" by BYTE magazine in 1995. He also has been named an AT&T Bell Laboratories Fellow and an AT&T Fellow. He received the 1993 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Grace Murray Hopper award for his early work on C and is an ACM Fellow. NR 1058, 7/26/02
