Knight Scholarship Message (2006)

Two people have played a central role in the creation and development of the IU South Bend computer science department, according to Professor Hossein Hakimzadeh, chair of the department. The department honored one of the men, John Russo, when he retired in 2003 with a scholarship named in his honor.

Another important scholar to the computer science department is Professor William Knight. Knight will retire this spring and the department continues the tradition of honoring a retired faculty member with a named scholarship. 
“After nearly 20 years of teaching, one of our best and brightest faculty is retiring,” Hakimzadeh said. “Knight is dedicated, a wonderful mentor, and has a natural ability to demystify complex subject matter. Indeed, Dr. Knight¹s retirement will create a large void in our department.”

“I¹m not surprised that Hossein proposed the scholarship fund. I¹m happy to lend my name to any initiative that has the potential of helping our majors. The majority of them have to support their academic lives with unrelated jobs, and they barely get by financially. Sometimes they avoid buying texts that they ought to have,” Knight said. 

Knight came as an adjunct instructor in 1977. He taught mathematics at the University of Notre Dame and IU South Bend. He obtained a computer science degree from the University of Illinois in 1986 and found a new niche in life. “It was the right place for me. I was meant to teach. I was very lucky,” Knight said. 

For the past 20 years, he has been instrumental in developing the department, serving as associate chair and working on major initiatives. The department grew from five to 10 faculty members, and currently there are 250 students. “The scholarship is a nice way to continue this work,” Knight added.

In the photograph, the individuals shown are Julia Knight (wife), John Knight (son), and William Knight.

 

 

 

 

Please visit this page to learn more about the scholarship