Since departing CU Boulder after a 30-year tenure, Bobby Schnabel has added some impressive titles to his resume, including CEO of the Association for Computing Machinery and dean of Indiana University’s School of Informatics and Computing.
Now, he’s returning to CU to add a few more: Research and Innovation Office faculty director on computing, College of Engineering and Applied Science faculty director for entrepreneurship, and external chair of computer science.
"I am thrilled to have Bobby Schnabel back on the CU Boulder campus," said Bobby Braun, dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science. “His leadership, energy and experience across computing, entrepreneurship and technology will help us continue to expand our educational and research impact."
As faculty director on computing, Schnabel will be working with the Research and Innovation Office in strategic planning support for CU Boulder’s ever-expanding, cross-campus computing community.
“I look forward to working with the faculty across impressive diversity and breadth of computing related educational and research programs we have at CU Boulder, including computer science, computer engineering, information science, interdisciplinary telecommunications, ATLAS and in many other departments and institutes, to see how we can collaborate to create even more opportunities for our students, faculty and community,” Schnabel said.
In his entrepreneurship role, he wants to strengthen partnerships between the tech business and entrepreneurial community in Colorado and the technology programs at CU Boulder, whether those partnerships are focused on education or technology transfer.
"Bobby is an exceptional choice for this role, and I’m looking forward to working with him to bring together the campus strengths around computing,” said Vice Chancellor of Research & Innovation Terri Fiez. “I’m also thrilled that he’ll be connecting into the entrepreneurial ecosystem to help grow student, faculty and staff entrepreneurial engagement in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.”
As a CU Boulder faculty member from 1977 to 2007, Schnabel served as chair of the Department of Computer Science and vice provost for academic and campus computing. He also founded the ATLAS Institute and co-founded the National Center for Women and Information Technology. Elizabeth Jessup, the current chair of computer science, said the department is excited to have him back.
“The department is delighted to have his help with such external concerns as fundraising, our advisory board and faculty recruiting,” she said. “He will also serve as a valuable mentor for our many new faculty (and our not-so-new) faculty.”