Systems, Man & Cybernetics - October 2015 - 25

Transactions on
Computational Social
Systems Editor
George Cybenko

a m t he Dorot hy a nd Wa lter
Gramm Professor of Engineeri ng at the Thayer School of
Engineering at Dartmouth College
in Hanover, New Hampshire, and I
have held this position since 1992.
Previously, I was professor of electrical and computer engineering at
the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. In 2004, I cofounded
F low T ra q , I nc. (w w w.f low t ra q.
com), a company that develops and
markets high-volume, high-fidelity
network f low analytics software.
Experience with commercial software helps me understand the difference between academic research
and marketable services and products, something that is often sobering for an academic.
My research is motivated by my
desire to understand, invent, and explore new ideas and insights, mainly
of a mathematical and algorithmic
nature. Ever since coming up with my
first real research results as a graduate student, I've wanted to recreate
the euphoric feeling of inventing a
new idea or insight and communicating it to my peers. This translates into
my teaching quite naturally because
I want to share such excitement and
insights with others. Teaching and lecturing is a great way to do that and I
have really grown to value the time I
spend with younger engineers and scientists. Their youthful energy and optimism is contagious and invigorating.
I was very lucky to have outstanding professors and colleagues
throughout my scientifically formative
years. My earliest role model was Prof.
Israel Halperin at the University of
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MSMC.2016.2520069
Date of publication: 28 April 2016

new SMCS transaction on social dynamics made sense. Together with
Eunice Santos (at that time at the
University of Texas at El Paso and
now chair of computer science at the
Illinois Institute of Technology), I put
together the material for proposing
IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS). That proposal was approved and publication
began in 2014.
Toronto, where I was an undergraduate
Getting TCSS approved and pubstudent. Halperin was a rare Ph.D. stulishing the first year's issues were
dent of John von Neumann's and was
large undertakings-even larger than
one of the most thoughtful and encourthose required to start previous IEEE
aging people I have ever met-maybe
publications. Computational social
something he got from von Neumann
systems is an emerging area with no
himself. My own Ph.D. advisor, Bede
well-defined community or boundarLiu, taught me curiosity, persistence,
ies yet. Definitely the most challengand patience-traits I have tried to
ing aspect has been to
exhibit when dealing
build a community of
with my own students.
authors, editors, and
Bede just retired from
reviewers for this new
Princeton at the early
technical area. While
age of 80, an excellent
I am very proud of
role model for us all.
getting it going in the
(Coincidentally, one of
first place, sustaining
my Ph.D. classmates
the pace has been an
was Fred Mintzer, who
ongoing challenge.
was also one of Bede's
Ironically, although
students and was a
george Cybenko.
I am 100% trained as
2015 ca ndidate for
a mathematician and
IEEE president.)
electrical engineer, my wife of 36
My involvement with IEEE started
years, Susan, and daughter, Anne, are
in the early 1980s when I first served
both social scientists. Anne earned
on various program committees and
her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology
eventually the editorial board of IEEE
from the University of California,
Transactions on Information Theory
Riverside, and now works at Booz
in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In
Allen in Dayton, Ohio. They find it
the mid-1990s, I was the founding
funny that Anne's geeky dad is now
editor-in-chief (EIC) of Computing in
interested in social systems.
Science & Engineering, which IEEE
The SMCS is in the right place at
copublishes with the American Instithe right time. While there are obvitute of Physics. Shortly after that, in
ously many technical challenges to
the early 2000s, I served as founding
solve and inventions to be made in
EIC of IEEE Security & Privacy.
the traditional physical sciences, comIn the mid-2000s, my research
puting, and engineering, more of the
shifted to social and adversarial dyfrontiers involve humans-how they
namics. By the early 2010s, it was
interact with each other and with the
evident that while there was a large
technology that engineers create. The
commercial and government interest
SMCS and its members can be central
in social and adversarial dynamto exploring these new frontiers, and I
ics, these areas were being underlook forward to playing a role in realserved by the academic literature.
izing that future with my friends and
As a result of discussions with the
colleagues within the SMCS memberIEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetship and staff.
ics Society (SMCS), the concept of a

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Systems, Man & Cybernetics - October 2015