CCS was honored to showcase 50 individuals and activities during our 50th Anniversary in 2017-2018 to share our rich history. Take a look at the amazing people responsible for making our unconventional College possible!  This 50 for 50 is an abbreviated version of an article titled "The Other Side of Ömer Eğecioğlu" that was in the 2016 issue of the CCS Newsletter. 

Ömer Eğecioğlu, a native of Turkey, joined the UCSB faculty in 1985. Since founding the College of Creative Studies’ Computer Science Program (now called 'Computing') in 1994, he has split his time between both the Computer Science department in the College of Engineering and CCS. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. Following his move stateside in 1978 to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota, studying Computer Science and Mathematics, Ömer ventured out to California and earned a PhD from UCSD in Mathematics in 1984.

CCS: Tell us about the beginning of the CCS Computing Program.

Ömer Eğecioğlu: Well, it all started back in 1992 when Roger Wood, who was a professor of Computer Engineering, asked me if I would be interested in working with the brilliant students in CCS. After I agreed, Roger and Adrian Wenner, the Dean of CCS at the time (editor’s note: Wenner was the Provost of CCS—the Provost’s responsibilities transferred to the position of Dean in 2006) and I discussed the possibilities. We came to the conclusion that it would be a good fit and so I got to work on setting up the major in the College. After two years of building the curriculum and working with Peter Cappello, Murat Karaorman and Provost Bill Ashby, we introduced our first computer science students in 1994. That is how this whole thing started. In the almost 25 years of the Program, we have had many interesting and very smart students. Now called ‘Computing’, it is the 8^th of the CCS programs, which used to be a CCS ‘emphases’. It is healthier than ever before and doing extremely well. The tremendous demand for computing makes our applicant pool very wide.

CCS: How has the program changed since its inception in 1994?

ÖE: In my opinion it has changed for the better. For one thing the campus showed its appreciation by expanding the major’s faculty, specifically hiring Phill Conrad. Also because now younger kids are exposed to computing related activities and computer programming much earlier in life so their interests have developed and by the time they hear of CCS they have already have established an understanding of and enthusiasm for computing. This allows us to get a much wider and more comprehensive group of potential students. I was looking at my files in the early 90's when I used to make up a Computer Science exam as an additional exam for high school students. In those years we extended offers to the students who performed well on the test.

So back then you had to actively look to bring people into the program?

ÖE: Yes, that is correct. Back then the dedicated CCS math faculty member Charles Ryavec was giving exams to California high school students to search for quality applicants. I ended up doing the same thing for my program. That was the only way to get good students back then. Now it is entirely word of mouth. People know how good we are and how fantastic a place CCS is. The only type of networking we do now is to invite students to come and see for themselves, to come and visit us. Once they come sit in on a few lectures, talk to the current students, and check out our campus, they get hooked on the collegial atmosphere of the CCS.

People know how good we are and how fantastic a place CCS is.

CCS: What is the next step for the program?

ÖE: We are lucky that the program is stable and increasing – but not much! The next step will be to extend our course offerings and coordinate with the other programs in the College. Right now it is difficult for students in the other majors to take Computing classes. We are looking at ways make this easier. As it is, computer science has become increasingly universal, everybody uses it, and so we have to be able to serve everybody else in the College, as well as our cognate department in the College of Engineering. Eventually, we would like to cater, at least the basics, to everybody in CCS.

CCS: What do you enjoy most about being on faculty at CCS?

ÖE: I enjoy being around the students – they are amazing. You know, we have our annual mid-residency reviews where the students show off what they have been doing for the last few years. These presentations are always incredible and blow my mind. With just a little bit of guidance, CCS students can do wonderful things. They aren’t here to just get an ‘A’ or ‘B’, they just really want to learn and understand concepts and start contributing. This is where creativity comes in.

The faculty personally know and advise each student individually. The students are very capable and know what they are doing. It is the intimate atmosphere of the College and the advising process that makes all the difference. And did I mention that the students are all so bright?

CCS: In addition to CCS, you also have an interest in musical history. Tell us about that.

ÖE: I started researching topics in classical music back in the early 2000’s. I guess it all started when I set out on writing the definitive book on Franz Liszt’s 1847 visit to Constantinople (Istanbul), which, by the way, I have yet to finish. While I was in the process of doing research and collecting documents, often I got distracted with something new. I would read an interesting fact, which I would be compelled to follow. So I would put the whole project on the back burner while I branched out and researched the new topic. For example, while conducting research on Franz Liszt in an Istanbul library I came across this article about J. Strauss and a piece of music in the archives dedicated to an Ottoman sultan. The article talked about letters written, in French, back-and-forth between Strauss and the Ottoman palace. But Johann Strauss was from Vienna, so it shouldn’t have been written in French, I thought. Putting together all of the pieces became like detective work. I just had to write about this because it was so interesting and had so many moving parts. That particular J. Strauss turned out to be the Parisian musician Isaac Strauss, who used the name Jules Strauss! I ended up writing a whole book on the various Strausses and the pieces of music they dedicated to the Ottoman dynasty.

CCS: You also write about the opera, right?

ÖE: Yes, that is correct. I have always enjoyed the opera and so I started writing reviews of various works. Most of them, of course, were in Los Angeles because that is what is close to us. Whenever there was an interesting opera I would watch it and write about it. I have written about interesting opera houses as well, like the ones in Oslo, São Paulo, Göteborg, Drottningholm, and even the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus, which appears in the cult movie Fitzcarraldo. I have also got the opportunity to interview a number of fairly well known composers, opera directors and singers.

CCS: Most computer scientists wouldn't even think about writing an article on the opera. 

ÖE: This is true, and it goes both ways. People think what they are doing is the answer to life's problems and complexities and nothing else matters. This happens on both sides of the aisle –science and art. I think it is significantly more rewarding to spread your interests and do things in a way that fulfills a variety of your passions. If you can do this, it is much more meaningful and satisfying because you don't get stuck focusing on one aspect of life. These passions are different for each of us, but I feel that what is most necessary is to develop passions to begin with.