Reflections...

As a graduate student, I am studying a narrow area in great depth. This kind of focus is valuable for advancing science, because new ideas often arise from the in-depth investigation of specific problems. However, while specialization is instrumentally useful, it is not the highest good of scientific research. Those detailed facts must be synthesized and put into a broader perspective, so that we can turn knowledge into what we hope will become wisdom.

I'd like to thank both the students of 15-312 and Professor Harper for this award. Professor Harper cares a great deal about teaching, and cares about our field. It is easy to be a good TA with this kind of environment.

The students were also ideal. They were curious, diligent, and skeptical in the best sense of the word. They were willing to ask not just how, but also why, and trying to find good answers for their questions helped me to think about the larger issues of programming languages research.

They helped me understand at a visceral level why teaching is an important part of scholarship, and for that, I wish to thank them all.