Clifford W. Mercer is currently at
Liberate Technologies, a provider of software for information
appliances including cable television settop boxes and embedded
systems utilizing web technologies. Liberate is located in San
Carlos, CA.
In his spare time, he plays trumpet in the Redwood Symphony, the San Jose Wind Symphony, and the Gabrieli Brass Ensemble. He has also played trumpet with groups such as the Don Haneke Chorale.
Cliff received his PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon in August 1997; his thesis was entitled "Operating System Resource Reservation for Real-Time and Multimedia Applications." His thesis co-advisors were Mootaz Elnozahy and Raj Rajkumar; the other members of his thesis committee were M. Satyanarayanan, Hide Tokuda, and Kevin Jeffay.
Cliff played Solo Cornet with Allegheny Brass Band starting in 1990 and played Lead Solo Cornet from 1993 to 1996. During that time, he studied trumpet under Anthony Pasquarelli at Carnegie Mellon University.
In the summer of 1994, Cliff spent a delightful three months at the Digital Equipment Corporation Systems Research Center (DEC-SRC) in Palo Alto, CA. Cliff received the MS in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon in May 1994.
In August 1991, Cliff entered the PhD program in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University. He studied computer science under the supervision of Dr. Hide Tokuda and Professor James H. Morris.
In 1988, Cliff received the BS in Applied Mathematics/Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon. For several years after his graduation, he worked under his mentor, Dr. Hide Tokuda in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University.
He transferred from the computer science program at North Carolina State University to Carnegie Mellon in 1986. At North Carolina State, he played Solo Cornet in the North Carolina State Brass Band.
He graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) in 1983. He played trumpet in the Chapel Hill Youth Orchestra and participated in All State Orchestra. At NCSSM, he played trumpet in the Wind Ensemble under Randolph Foy and studied trumpet with James Ketch at UNC.
In 1981, Cliff attended the Governor's School of North Carolina in music. He played trumpet in the orchestral program at Governor's School West in that year.
From 1979 to 1981, Cliff attended Mooresville High School in Mooresville, North Carolina where he was active in the concert band and marching band programs. He was Principal Trumpet for the Charlotte Youth Symphony during that time. He participated in All State Band in 1980 and 1981. Cliff studied trumpet under Bill Lawing at Davidson College.
Cliff was born in Ravenna, Ohio in 1965 and moved to Mooresville, North Carolina in 1971.