"We professors have the privilege that our profession is also our hobby" - Part 1/2
Prof. em. Walter Gander helped Switzerland acquire a high-performance computer, promoted the implementation of e-mail at ETH Zurich, and wrote the first book using LaTeX. In this interview with Lukas Fässler, high above the rooftops of Zurich, he talks about the beginnings of the Department of Computer Science and about a career that stretched from St. Gallen to Hong Kong.
Video series: Part 1/2
Professor emeritus Walter Gander was a faculty member of the Department of Computer Science from 1987 to 2009. In this time, he shaped both ETH Zurich and Switzerland. In the first part of our interview series, he talks to Senior Scientist Lukas Fässler, his former doctoral student, about the beginnings of D-INFK, the interesting crossroads of his personal and professional life, and the establishment of a dynamic science that plays an essential role in all aspects of our society today.
Walter Gander began his academic career at the Neu-Technikum in Buchs, before moving on to Stanford University in California and finally back to Switzerland to ETH Zurich, where he researched and taught from 1987 to 2009. In 1989, he founded the Institute of Scientific Computing at D-INFK, together with the senior research associates Peter Arbenz and Hans Hinterberger. He also left his mark on the department as Director of Studies and as Department Head. He led the Swiss supercomputer initiative to procure the national supercomputer in Manno, thus laying the foundation for today's Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS). Walter Gander was not only a researcher but also a visionary and a pioneer. He was an early advocate for the promotion of women in computer science, as well as for the establishment of independent computer science classes in schools.
Lukas Fässler is a Senior Scientist with a focus on teaching at the Department of Computer Science. He started his doctorate at Gander's Institute for Computational Science 20 years ago. Walter Gander and Lukas Fässler share not only a common research interest but also a friendship.
Mentions from the video
40 years D-INFK
The study programme and the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich are celebrating their fortieth anniversary this year. On this occasion, a series of interviews with former professors of the department, who were leading forces in the foundation and development of D-INFK, was created.