Dongarra

From: Crabtree, Loren W [lcrabtr1@utk.edu]

Sent: Sunday, April 02, 2006 3:54 PM

To: dongarra@cs.utk.edu

Cc: Mayhew, Anne

Subject: RE: computational science program at UTK

Page 1 of 1

4/12/2006

Jack, I am delighted to endorse the proposed Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science that you and your colleagues have developed for submission to the Curriculum Committee of the Graduate Council. Given the burgeoning importance of computational science to numerous science disciplines and the strength that the University enjoys in this interdisciplinary area, it is vital that we mount this program. The University's programs in materials science and engineering, computational biology, neutron sciences, and numerous other key disciplines will make excellent use of this Graduate Minor. I have reviewed the nature of the program, the procedures through which the minor will be offered, and the quality of the faculty engaged in the minor, and am enthusiastic about its quality and its ability to enhance the training of our graduate students. I want to commend you and your colleagues for developing this innovative and important initiative and offer it my full support. Loren Crabtree Chancellor

Dongarra

From: Mayhew, Anne [amayhew@utk.edu]

Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 10:23 AM

To: dongarra@cs.utk.edu

Subject: RE: computational science program at utk

Page 1 of 1

4/12/2006

Jack: Before writing the following email for inclusion in your packet I checked to see if those involved in passage of the program see any likely problems. I'm glad to say that no problems were identified. Here is my message: TO: Jack Dongarra FROM: Anne Mayhew, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean of Graduate Studies DATE: April 04, 2006 RE: Comuptation Science Program at UTK The proposed program in Computation Science is an excellent initiative and has my full support. Thanks to you and your colleagues across campus for proposing a course of study that will serve graduate students well.

Dongarra

From: Way Kuo [way@utk.edu]

Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 12:33 PM

To: dongarra@cs.utk.edu

Cc: kcowart@utk.edu

Subject: RE: computational science program at utk

Page 1 of 1

4/12/2006

Jack, Having reviewed all your documents about the proposed computational science program at UT, I find your plan for this new initiative is workable and timely. I am glad to give my strong support to this effort of establishing an interdisciplinary graduate program in computational science. Regards, Way

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE

UT-ORNL Science Alliance 102 South College 1413 Circle Drive

Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1508 (865) 974-6765

Fax (865) 974-3949

April 5, 2006 Jack Dongarra Distinguished Professor Department of Computer Science Dear Jack, I am pleased to lend the support of the Science Alliance to the graduate minor in computational science. The program is a good first step in this important area. I think that the internship component and potential for participation by joint faculty will add another means of cooperation and collaboration between UT and ORNL. Best regards,

J. H. Poore, Professor and Director Ericsoon-Harlan D. Mills Chair in Software Engineering /vc

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Dongarra

From: daverman@math.utk.eduSent: Monday, April 10, 2006 11:26 AMTo: dongarra@cs.utk.eduSubject: Re: computational science program at utk

Dear Jack,

The Mathematics Department fully endorses the Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor program in Computational Science and views it as a valuable addition to the curriculum. The department will support and promote this program, and it expects several of its faculty tobe an active participants.

Best wishes,Bob

Robert J. DavermanInterim Head, Department of MathematicsUniversity of TennesseeKnoxville, TN 37996-1300Office Phone: 865-974-2463Office Fax: 865-974-6576

College of Arts and Sciences Department of Computer Science

203 Claxton Complex 1122 Volunteer Boulevard

Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-3450 (865) 974-5067

FAX (865) 974-4404 Email: info@cs.utk.edu

http://www.cs.utk.edu

April 4, 2006 Professor Jack Dongarra Department of Computer Science College of Arts and Sciences

Dear Jack,

The issue of computational science as an interdisciplinary academic program has been discussed at many faculty meetings. We are convinced that the proposed graduate minor will have broad support among our faculty. We therefore give it our most enthusiastic endorsement. We will be pleased to work with you and your committee to adapt existing courses and/or develop new courses to fit the needs of this new initiative, given than it can be done within our existing support framework.

Sincerely yours,

Michael W. Berry Professor and Interim Department Head, Computer Science Brad Vander Zanden Associate Head, Computer Science Jens Gregor Associate Head, Computer Science

Samir M. El-Ghazaly, Ph.D. College of Engineering Professor and Head Electrical and Computer Engineering

414 Ferris Hall Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-2100

(865) 974-3461 April 9, 2006 Dr. Jack Dongarra Innovative Computing Laboratory Department of Computer Science 1122 Volunteer Blvd University of Tennessee Knoxville TN, 37996-3450 Ref: Computational Science Program at University of Tennessee, Knoxville Dear Jack,

I have been following very closely your efforts to establish the Intercollegiate Graduate Program in Computational Science at UTK. This program will offer a graduate minor in Computational Science at both the Master’s and Ph.D. level.

Since the early stages of the proposal, I voiced my strong support to your efforts in establishing a platform for promoting “computational science” studies. You explored the options and assessed the feasibility of establishing either a certificate or an intercollegiate graduate program leading to a minor in computing. I could clearly see the benefits to students and to many research programs, including ours. I attended some of your meetings, and expressed interest in participating and even teaching courses related to computing. One cannot emphasize enough the value of the proposed approach to UTK, its impact on promoting interdisciplinary programs, and its role in enhancing collaborations between certain programs at UT and ORNL.

It is my pleasure to express my strong support to your efforts and to the proposed Intercollegiate Graduate Program in Computational Science. I sincerely hope to see this program established, and to participate in conducting and promoting it.

If there is anything I could do to facilitate or assist in establishing this program, please do not hesitate to contact me. I wish you complete success in this effort, and look forward to working together on the following steps.

Sincerely,

Samir M. El-Ghazaly Professor and Head

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES

TO Jack Dongarra

Distinguished Professor, Dept. of Computer Science FROM Soren Sorensen

Head, Department of Physics DATE April 7, 2006 RE: Support for the proposed Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational

Science It is a pleasure for me on behalf of the Department of Physics and Astronomy to enthusiastically support the proposed Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science. Computational Science has over the last couple of decades emerged as on of the most important fields of science. In the Department of Physics and Astronomy many of our best researchers are completely relying on advanced computational techniques to do their research and many of our graduate students are in the same situation. Furthermore, each year we have several students requesting more formal training in computational methods. Both the fundamentals which can best be learned from Computer Science or Mathematics or more practical applications best learned from departments outside of Physics. In addition, we have developed a special graduate course in Computational Physics, which is very popular. The proposed graduate minor brings all this together in a very well designed manner. The faculty in our department is very supportive. There is in my mind no doubt that if UT does not approve this minor in Computational Science, we will be left behind by nearby competitors like Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Florida, etc. Combined with the fact that many of our graduate students in this program will benefit from the close interactions in this field with ORNL, this degree will make us very competitive for computationally inclined graduate students independent of their discipline. In summary, this proposal represents a large cross-disciplinary effort on the UT campus with support from all the major departmental stakeholders. In particular, the Department of Physics and Astronomy is supporting this as strongly as possible. It simple has to be a reality soon!

Soren P. Sorensen, Professor and Head Department of Physics and Astronomy

401 Nielsen Physics Building Knoxville, TN 37996-1200

(865) 974-3342 FAX (865) 974-7843

sorensen@utk.edu

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE

To: Professor Jack Dongarra Subject: Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science (IGMCS) program proposal Date: April 1, 2006 The Chemistry Department would like to express its strong support for the proposal to establish an Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science (IGMCS) program. This program will address a developing need in Chemistry and the sciences in general to provide a growing number of students with a sound introduction to computational approaches to a number of important areas of interdisciplinary research. Computational approaches to problems in the sciences is currently one of the fastest growing fields of research in the sciences and our students must be provided with more opportunities to learn more about the specific techniques that are being developed in fields such as chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, nanoscience and catalysis. The proposal has my enthusiastic support. Sincerely Craig Barnes, Professor and Head Department of Chemistry

Craig E. BarnesProfessor and Head

Department of ChemistryCollege of Arts and Sciences

552 Buehler HallKnoxville, TN 37996-1600

Phone: (865) 974-3141

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Dongarra

From: bdmckee@utk.eduSent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 12:08 AMTo: dongarra@cs.utk.eduCc: cbpeters@utk.eduSubject: Re: computational science program at utk

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Dear Dr. Dongarra,

I am writing in strong support of the proposal for an Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in computational sciences. As you know Biology is undergoing a transformation from a largelyexperimental science to one in which computational approaches are coming to guide experimentation in many areas. Computational methods are especially critical in the rapidly developing areas of genomics, proteomics, protein and nucleic acid structure, molecular interactions and biochemical reaction mechanisms (among others). These areas are of central interest in my department(BCMB) and we must provide our graduate students with adequate opportunities to develop expertise in computational methods so that they can compete for jobs, grants, etc. We have offered a minor in Statistics for many years that has a format similar to the proposed minor in computational sciences. We have found it to work quite well. I would anticipate that the minor in computational sciences will be a popular program with presentand future BCMB students.

Sincerely,

Bruce

Bruce D. McKeeProfessor and HeadBCMB Department

ail-sperry\attachments\Personal Folders\Inbox\IGMCS-CatalogCopyDraft4-13-2006 12-07-52 AM.pdf>

THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE

College of Engineering Chemical Engineering

419 Dougherty Engineering Building Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-2200

(865) 974-2421 FAX (865) 974-7076

April 10, 2006

Professor Jack Dongarra Computational Science 413 Claxton Education Building Knoxville, TN 37996-3450 Professor Dongarra: As the Head of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Tennessee, it is my pleasure to write a letter of support for the Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science (IGMCS) program. Our department is a participating member of Intercollegiate Graduate Statistics Program (IGSP) and have benefited from having students participate in the program. We expect much greater participation in the IGMCS because of the heavy computational emphasis of some of the faculty in the Chemical Engineering Department. Specifically, the Computational Materials Research Group (CMRG), which is led by David Keffer (Associate Professor, ChE) and Brian Edwards (Associate Professor, ChE) and which also includes Shengting Cui (Research Associate Professor, ChE), Bill Steele (Adjunct Professor, ChE), as well as post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students, is particularly looking forward to participating in the new IGMCS program. The CMRG has felt for some time that an intercollegiate program in Computational Science like this one proposed has been sorely absent at UT. This new program will allow us to expose our graduate students to the broad range of computational expertise available across disciplines at UT, while at the same time officially recognizing the computational element of their training. Respectfully, Dr. John R. Collier, PhD, PE Professor and Head

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Dongarra

From: jbecker@utk.eduSent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 8:53 AMTo: dongarra@cs.utk.eduSubject: Re: computational science program at utk

Dear Jack:The faculty members of the Microbiology Dept. have unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed the computational science program you are proposing. Please let me know if you need anything more in the form of support for your proposal.Jeff Becker=========================================================Jeffrey M. Becker, Ph.D.Professor and Head, Microbiology DepartmentM409 Walters BuildingUniversity of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. 37996-0845PHONE: 865-974-3006FAX: 865-974-4007http://web.bio.utk.edu/becker/=========================================================*This message was automatically scanned for virus infections and "SPAM"content. If this message is unsolicited "SPAM" or contains objectionable content, please forward it to BioComputing@tennessee.edu*

April 4, 2006 Dear Professor Dongarra:

I am writing to endorse the Interdisciplinary Graduate Minor in Computational Science. (IGMCS). The School of Information Sciences will be able to enhance its already interdisciplinary program with such a graduate minor. For example, we would use the IGMCS to advance two tracks of IS studies: 1) Human Computer Interaction (HCI); and 2) Knowledge Mining.

The HCI track will focus on the human and social dimensions of computer system design and use with two strands of emphasis: (1) the novel interaction between people and computers beyond conventional desktop computing; and (2) the role that computer systems can play in collaborative work between individuals, groups, and organizations. Topics would include, adoption and diffusion of collaborative technologies; software architectures for user-adaptive systems; universal access to interactive systems; design principles for information visualization; and new patterns of computer-mediated work such as virtual teams.

The Knowledge Mining (KM) track would address the severe information

overload in science and technology caused by the rapid growth of computer-based information systems and their global interconnectivity. This problem is accelerating with the expansion of the internet and related technologies. The IGMCS would allow IS to develop a KM track that concentrates on the methods and tools for assisting scientists, researchers and other professionals in the effective extraction of problem-oriented knowledge from diverse and massive information sources, and for using this knowledge in problem solving situations. Emphasis will be given to novel and creative methodologies that generate knowledge through inference from data and information, and present the generated knowledge in user-oriented forms.

The IGMCS proposal presents excellent opportunities for many disciplines and

we look forward to its adoption. Yours truly, Ed Cortez, PhD Director & Professor

P.O. Box 2008

Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6163 Phone: (865) 574-4897

Fax: (865) 574-4839 Email: zachariat@ornl.gov

April 6, 2006 Professor Jack Dongarra Computer Science Department University of Tennessee 1122 Volunteer Blvd. Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-3450 Dear Prof. Dongarra: Computational Science Program at the University of Tennessee It is my pleasure to support the proposal for a Computational Science degree program at the University of Tennessee. Computational simulation has become an essential tool for research and development as modern scientific research presents a challenge both in the complexity of the problem and the computational resources needed. Computational sciences represent a complementary partner to theory and experiment in addressing our nation’s most challenging problems. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has as a goal to deliver the Leadership Computing Facility for the Department of Energy and the nation to provide the high-performance computing capability required by the scientific communities in addressing such areas as climate change, nanoscience, protein folding, and fusion simulation. Developing next-generation computational scientists who are thoroughly grounded in the application of capability computing to the most challenging scientific and engineering problems is critical to achieving our scientific goals. ORNL offers a number of potential student opportunities through such programs as the Research Alliance in Math and Science and the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship. ORNL would welcome the prospects of having computational science majors readily in the pipeline to assist in delivering breakthrough science. Please feel free to contact me by phone (865 574-6185) or by email (zachariat@ornl.gov) if you have any questions or need additional information. Sincerely,

Thomas Zacharia Associate Laboratory Director Computing and Computational Sciences dlm