Alumnus Profile: Bob Dutile '81

Robert Dutile portrait

What attracted you to BC? Ditto, Computer Science?

20世纪初，我的祖父在马萨诸塞州剑桥的一个教区长大，他非常钦佩BC. 不列颠哥伦比亚省为我提供了奖学金、助学金和勤工俭学，使我能够负担得起上学的费用. As a freshman, I worked an off campus job at night, 每周在学校里做几天厨房帮工，这一切都在一起.

Computer Science was serendipitous. 我遇到了一群对我的生活产生巨大影响的人. Many who went out of their way to help me get ahead.

After a month of classes, 我对微积分感到非常沮丧，因为我们还在重复我在高中时学过的东西. 我约了我的指导老师杰克·纽豪泽(Jack Neuhauser)谈谈，他当时是SOM的代理院长. It was past any deadline for reassignment, but Dr. 诺伊豪泽微笑着说，如果我能很快赶上进度，他可以让我上计算机科学课程. Jim Gips was taking over from Jack as Dept Head and signed off. 彼得·库格尔教授给了我5周的作业，我开始工作了. 我喜欢这种逻辑，喜欢通过指令让机器工作的能力. 我问他我能不能双修计算机科学和哲学(1977年是不允许的)。. 所以我的经济学和金融专业加入了CS(从未完成过经济学).

Did you have a special interest inside of CS? (e.g., database, data mining, compilers, programming, etc.)

Two areas were of special interest to me. 人工智能以及计算机和模型在金融领域的应用. While at BC. 我用LISP编程，并喜欢与Jim Gips讨论AI. So I pursued a position at MIT’s AI Lab. 与此同时，我还担任电子游戏正规平台助理，为不列颠哥伦比亚省金融系的德黑兰教授进行有效的投资组合分析. After graduation, 我得到了麻省理工学院人工智能实验室的一个职位，以及蒙奇克-韦伯公司的一份工作，在华尔街开发投资组合分析软件. I took the Wall Street job. (it paid more).

Where are you working now?

For almost 15 years I have been working for UST Global. 在此期间，我们的员工从不到1000人发展到超过25000人. 在过去的几年里，我们一直在为客户的利益而构建颠覆我们自己服务的平台. We have incorporated the machine learning, algorithms and process automation that we have built for clients, 集成的平台，可以轻松实现，并随着新技术的发展而轻松适应. Fast and futureproof. To do this, we have partnerships with Stanford AI Labs, 麻省理工学院CSAIL和我们投资了一些小公司，这些公司拥有很有前途的技术，我们相信它们可以扩展到我们财富500强的客户.

For the past year, I have worked as the Chief Commercial Officer, 同时继续为我们的一些大客户就大规模转型提供咨询. Prior to this I served in many roles: Chief Strategy Officer, General Manager of Consulting Services, as a the head of Healthcare Technology, and as the CIO… In our collaborative and fast growing company, these jobs have often overlapped.

你觉得你在BC的培训直接适用于你现在的工作吗?

我在不列颠哥伦比亚省接受的是计算机科学和金融专业的培训，获得了B.Sc. in Management. The strong Liberal Arts Core, 对我来说，SOM核心课程和学习多种计算机语言以及如何设计数据库一样重要. 在我的职业生涯中，我不得不管理成千上万的人，并且是一个独立的贡献者. I have leveraged Financial Analysis in every position I have held, 我的哲学课让我终生学习，也让我始终知道，人们看待自己的方式多种多样, their lives and their business. 作为学习计算机科学原理的一部分，学习多种编程语言意味着我在学习和理解新语言时从不犹豫, technologies and paradigms. 我坚信，我在不列颠哥伦比亚省获得的广泛教育与我学到的具体技能一样，对我的成功至关重要.

你在BC和/或CS系有什么特别的回忆吗?

Too many to mention them all… but a few would be…

  • Starting in my sophomore year, 我开始在CS系担任助教将近2年. I did work for Bill Griffith, Peter Olivieri and Ruth Parker. 后来我在BC计算机中心找到了一个用户顾问的职位, where I went from keypunching code into IBM 039 cards,  帮助教授转换汇编代码和运行统计分析.
  • Jim Gips helped me get a research project for extra credit.
  • In my last semester senior year, 赫希教授帮我在数字设备公司找到了一份咨询实习工作.
  • 德黑兰教授教了我很多关于如何利用我的计算机经验来设计控制风险的系统, optimize returns, etc. Jerry Viscione让我从相反的角度来分析很多金融分析.
  • 吉姆·吉普斯和比尔·格里菲斯让我用了他们部门正在试用的全新苹果电脑. 它有一个很酷的软件，我想是比尔从哈佛带过来的是吉姆·布里克林给我的(后来变成了Visicalc)我记得推着索尼电视和苹果电脑去上金融课，向我展示了如何实时计算NPV和IRR, and show comparative graphs in full color.
  • Finally, one of my first meetings with Prof. 比尔·格里菲斯(Bill Griffith)，当他走进一节早班时，我已经是教室里唯一的人了, 靠窗而坐，窗台上摆着两大杯咖啡. Bill said he did not like students bringing food into class. 我解释说，我在上课前的晚上工作，直接开车到学校，在这样的限制下可能无法上课. He made an exception that I remember and appreciate to this day.

你在BC和/或CS系最不喜欢的部分是什么? (Be gentle, now.)

Working all the time and never having much spare time. Paying your own way was difficult then and harder now. Complying with the work-study rules, being held to 20 hours a week, I had to always find second jobs and gigs to pay for tuition. I still remember Jim Gips when he was running the department, letting me know that the budget for my position would run out, 但当他们在未来一个学期退款时，他们会欢迎我回来. While those experiences digging ditches, moving furniture, cleaning rooms, bartending, and driving trucks is easy to romanticize now, 我觉得如果能全职为计算机科学部的人工作就好了, or for many other parts of BC who helped me out so much.

Any regrets? Would you have done anything differently?

I could have been kinder. 作为助教，我对QACS学生(MBA学生的计算机课程)没有足够的耐心。. Sorry Dr. Olivieri.

1984年以后，我和BC部的人以及CS部的人就没怎么联系了. 我真想在吉姆·吉普斯去世前见他一面，向他道谢. So to all the people from 1977 -1981 in Housing and Housekeeping, in Dining Services and the Computer Center, in CS and Finance… let me belatedly thank you now.

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