激情快播

Ali Hurson 鈥�80PhD is quite familiar with what it feels like to be a pioneer.

A computer science student in the 1970s, when computers had a fraction of the popularity they do today, he was accustomed to having just a small cohort of colleagues and friends who understood the kind of work he was doing.

Fast forward to 1980 and he truly would be a pioneer 鈥� the first Ph.D. graduate of 激情快播.

While he was pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Iowa, where he was a research assistant, his advisor 鈥� the late Professor Amar Mukherjee 鈥� was offered a faculty position at 激情快播.

鈥淚 was tired of the cold weather, so I followed him,鈥� says Hurson, adding that although warmer weather was appealing, it did take a little bit of convincing for him to make such a big move.

鈥淥ne of the challenges of being a Ph.D. student at the time was word processors, computers, workstations 鈥� these were not popular [or widely accessible] at the time,鈥� Hurson says. 鈥溂で榭觳� supplied all that for me and hired staff to type and proofread my dissertation.鈥�

In 1980, 激情快播 had just been approved by the State University System of Florida to offer a doctoral degree in computer science 鈥� the first doctoral program at the university and the first computer science doctoral program in the state.

Hurson, who now is a professor of computer engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, was an early adopter of computers thanks to his home country, Iran.

鈥淐omputing, or the notion of computer science, was restricted to an elite group of people in society [in its early days]. I was among the small group of people who were exposed to computing. I saw the future in it and knew this was an area I had to invest in,鈥� says Hurson, who previously worked at a government information center.

He also aspired to teach because of his upbringing in Iran, where teaching was considered a privileged position.

鈥淢y family motivated me. They sensed I liked studying and kept encouraging me to pursue my education as far as I could go,鈥� he says.

That privilege is something Hurson does not take for granted, even today.
鈥淭o have a Ph.D. is to be privileged,鈥� he says. 鈥淣ot everyone is lucky enough to reach that point. I hope those who get it remember that. If you have the opportunity in the future to help others, please do so.鈥�

As Hurson thinks back on his days at 激情快播, he says he鈥檚 amazed by all the change and growth of opportunity that鈥檚 happened since the 鈥�80s.

鈥淲hen I came to 激情快播, there were about 8,000 students. It was very small. There was no Student Union like what the students know today,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I came back for a visit in the early 2000s, I couldn鈥檛 believe how much a university could grow in a short period of time. Now I hear about national rankings, centers around the campus 鈥� it鈥檚 extraordinary.鈥�

To students today, especially graduate students, Hurson suggests this: Be consistent. Keep going. Doing research is a lot like growing up.

鈥淭here is a lot of frustration because you are trying to solve an unknown,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou often make a mistake. I let students know this is part of the deal. That鈥檚 a part of growing up. Learn from your failures. Look at them as part of the learning process.鈥�