An (Apparently) Indirect Route to Tenure Prof. Dennis Shasha Courant Institute, Computer Science New York University

Brief Academic Biography PhD in Applied Math from Harvard 1984 Came to NYU that fall Tenure by 1991 Visited Inria for sabbatical for major retooling.

What Made Up Tenure Case PhD thesis work in TODS Parallel Computing Work in Trans on Programming Languages Experiences paper about databases on Wall Street Approximate tree matching in Siam Journal of Comp/Journal of Algorithms Hardware work for string matching in IEEE Computer.

Tenure Case Continued Analytical justification for free-at-empty instead of merge-at-half for B trees in PODS and then JCSS. Equijoins for database machines in TODS. Query processing for distance metrics in ACM TOIS And … The Puzzling Adventures of Dr. Ecco

Is There Anything Strange Here?

Strange Papers in databases, pattern recognition (not considered part of databases at the time) and … a puzzle book? Maybe I lucked out, but in retrospect I must not have. Axiom 1: The letter writers count a lot.

Lesson 1 Be true to yourself. Wrote the puzzle book because I had to. Some of the letter writers later told me in confidence that they took the bravado as a sign of energy.

No Salami Research Make each paper count. Nothing annoys people more than to look at nearly redundant papers.

Branch out Beyond Databases Unless your departmental database group has the clout to push your tenure case, go beyond. Remember: theorists view databases as exercises in first-order logic; algorithmists as a few index structures; OS people as restricted file systems. False, but you must show your versatility.

Take Teaching Seriously I developed a wildly popular course in computer literacy. Universities feel ever more accountable to their students. Figure out how to make teaching synergistic to research. Otherwise move to a research lab.

The Best Job When I consult on Wall Street or elsewhere, I’m reminded of virtues of academia: freedom, synergy, and constant stimulation. Also, pressure.