Student’s work in computer science impresses national
judges and those who work with him


TACOMA, Wash.
– On the heels of being named a Rhodes Scholar, University of Puget Sound senior William Rathje ’15 has attracted another distinguished honor—this time from the national Computing Research Association (CRA).

Rathje is the 2015 runner-up for the professional association’s Outstanding Undergraduate Male Researcher Award for non-Ph.D.-granting institutions. The CRA named a top female and top male awardee in the category, with Rathje as the sole runner-up. This puts him among the country’s top three computer science student researchers at undergraduate universities, based on the competitive nature of the entries to this contest.

Brad Richards, chair of Puget Sound’s mathematics and computer science department, was one of two nominators of Rathje to the CRA judging panel.

“In more than 18 years of teaching computer science, I have never encountered a student who stands out along as many dimensions as William Rathje,” Richards began his written statement.

Richards cited Rathje’s wide-ranging pursuits—from bioinformatics research to playwriting to the creation of iPhone apps. He described a summer research project the 22-year-old Salem Ore. native pursued that involved proving that a complex piece of software was free from bugs. It required mathematical rigor, researching appropriate tools and techniques, and, ultimately, designing and implementing new extensions to the Java Pathfinder software package.

Rathje then co-authored a peer-reviewed paper with Richards about the project. It was named Best Student Paper at the 2014 SIGAda Annual International Conference on High Integrity Language Technology.

Larry David, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Oregon Health & Science University, previously worked with Rathje in his lab. He also nominated Rathje for the CRA award. David wrote that Rathje’s insights, involving both biochemistry and computer science, impacted his own research and changed the way large data sets are analyzed at the lab. David described Rathje’s rapid progress on one complex summer project as “phenomenal.”

“I have no doubt that he will be hugely successful as a Ph.D. student in computer science and that he will become a leader in his field,” David wrote. “I wait in great anticipation to see what this exceptional young man will bring to the world next.”

Rathje’s body of work so far includes a paper in a peer-reviewed journal, presentations at six conferences, and multiple research projects. He has won numerous honors and held a number of leadership, teaching, and writing positions. The graduate of Lake Oswego High School and current Honors Program student is majoring in computer science and English literature, and minoring in mathematics.

Nominees for the CRA awards were judged on factors including research contributions, papers written, conference presentations, software creations, and teaching, mentoring, and community work.

The two winners of the 2015 prize in the non-Ph.D.-granting institution category were Emma Harrington, from Williams College; and Hyunsu Cho, from Trinity College. Finalists and honorable mention awardees included students from Harvey Mudd College, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and John Carroll University. The Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award program is sponsored alternately by Microsoft Research and Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories. Microsoft is this year’s sponsor.

Press photos of William Rathje are available upon request.

For all the CRA 2015 undergraduate researcher awards visit: http://cra.org/awards/undergrad-current/

Tweet this: A young man to watch: Billy Rathje ’15 @univpugetsound. First the Rhodes. Now runner-up for CRA #computerscience award http://bit.ly/1x3xlNJ

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