Weekend event celebrates professor

Computer programming languages are often confusing and complex, but Computer Science Professor Dan Friedman has made his career studying them. His work and research on programming languages will be the basis for "Daniel P. Friedman: A Celebration," an event held by the Department of Computer Science this weekend.\n"I'm obviously honored," Friedman said about the event. "Some really famous and wonderful people are going to be here for this."\nThe program will begin Friday morning and conclude Saturday night with a party at the Indiana Memorial Union. The majority of the event will consist of short talks about programming languages, Friedman's main area of interest. Twenty-one people are scheduled to speak, and not one of them is a stranger to Friedman.\n"I know every one of them," he said. "They're former students, colleagues and former or current co-authors on books."\nFriedman pointed out that computer scientists Jerry Sussman and Guy Steele will be attending this weekend's celebration. He called them the "superstars" of the event. He said he's worked directly with most of the other speakers on some level.\nSussman and Steele invented the Scheme programming language at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the late 1970s.\nFriedman moved from Texas to Bloomington in 1973, where his main work at IU has been researching programming languages and writing books.\nFriedman stressed his success isn't just his own doing.\n"I do think I've been very lucky," he said. "I've had amazing students and amazing colleagues to work with. I've been lucky to have people be as excited as I am about the things I work with. You get to work with people over time ... and you build a great relationship over the years."\nAlthough Friedman's work has influenced the computer science world, he said his main influence comes from his teaching.\n"No question, I thought I had an influence on my students," he said. "When they left here, they were doing amazing things. I knew I was responsible for teaching them those things. (Teaching) is a powerful, intellectual tool." \nKent Dybvig, a professor in the computer science department, has worked with Friedman for about 25 years. He will be speaking this weekend about one of Friedman's innovations in programming languages. Dybvig said this weekend's program was initiated by several researchers around the world and is a great way to bring attention to Friedman's work.\n"I think it's a great way to highlight Dan's accomplishments and the accomplishments of computer science department over the last 30 years," he said. \nDybvig also said one of Friedman's strong qualities is that he is "a great teacher, and he inspires people, makes them better."\nFriedman remains humble about the upcoming program in his honor.\n"I have friends who are very nice people who are willing to do this for me," he said. "I guess I've resonated with people. I'm just overwhelmed that this is taking place."\n-- Contact Weekend copy editor Laura Kruty at lkruty@indiana.edu.