Visiting Washington & Lee University
Yesterday, I drove up to Washington & Lee University on my own initiative. I've applied to be a computer science professor there, so I was curious about the place. I also wanted to connect with Rick Peterson, the CTO of the university and an old friend of my advisor's.
W&L is in Lexington, VA, about 3 1/2 hours from Chicopee. I left the house at 6 am, before the crack of dawn. The drive up was pretty throughout, and stunningly beautiful in places. Lexington is in a valley between the Blue Ridge mountains and another Appalachian range. I was seriously in awe of the scenic beauty, both on the way there and the way back (for which I took a different route).
I arrived at W&L for a campus tour at 10. It didn't take long--the campus isn't very big. There are only about 1700 students there (all undergrads), not including ~500 law students. The campus is very pretty, and I think either the campus as a whole or else several buildings are listed in the national historic register. The campus was spared the torch during the civil war because the main building had a statue of George Washington on it. In fact, the Lee Chapel has the original copy of the first portrait of Washington on display. Robert E. Lee, who was the university's president for a few years after the Civil War, is buried there, in Lee Chapel, along with his family and his horse Traveler.
The culture is really awesome. People are really friendly. There's a rule that you look people in the eyes and greet them when you run into them on campus. Also, people really abide by a strong honor code. Lying, cheating, or stealing will get you expelled (for serious). Two great implications of this: students choose when they take their final exams (during the final week, that is), and people leave their laptops and stuff lying around wherever, because nobody will take it. Dr. Lambert, the head of the CS department, said that he accidentally left his bike parked in front of the library, with no chain or anything, and it was still there when he went looking for it a month later.
I met up with Rick at noon, and we had lunch at the cafeteria on campus, which was actually pretty good. He was so helpful to talk to. He also introduced me to several of the CS faculty. (Also, I met the technical support dude for the department, who has climbed 7 of the world's 9 tallest peaks, including Everest.) I'm hoping that getting to meet them (and actually spending a fair amount of time talking with Dr. Lambert) will help my chances there. I would really love to work there...
ETA: apparently they weren't impressed, because they did not invite me back for an interview. Ah well. Best of luck to 'em. I'm sure they'll do well.
W&L is in Lexington, VA, about 3 1/2 hours from Chicopee. I left the house at 6 am, before the crack of dawn. The drive up was pretty throughout, and stunningly beautiful in places. Lexington is in a valley between the Blue Ridge mountains and another Appalachian range. I was seriously in awe of the scenic beauty, both on the way there and the way back (for which I took a different route).
I arrived at W&L for a campus tour at 10. It didn't take long--the campus isn't very big. There are only about 1700 students there (all undergrads), not including ~500 law students. The campus is very pretty, and I think either the campus as a whole or else several buildings are listed in the national historic register. The campus was spared the torch during the civil war because the main building had a statue of George Washington on it. In fact, the Lee Chapel has the original copy of the first portrait of Washington on display. Robert E. Lee, who was the university's president for a few years after the Civil War, is buried there, in Lee Chapel, along with his family and his horse Traveler.
The culture is really awesome. People are really friendly. There's a rule that you look people in the eyes and greet them when you run into them on campus. Also, people really abide by a strong honor code. Lying, cheating, or stealing will get you expelled (for serious). Two great implications of this: students choose when they take their final exams (during the final week, that is), and people leave their laptops and stuff lying around wherever, because nobody will take it. Dr. Lambert, the head of the CS department, said that he accidentally left his bike parked in front of the library, with no chain or anything, and it was still there when he went looking for it a month later.
I met up with Rick at noon, and we had lunch at the cafeteria on campus, which was actually pretty good. He was so helpful to talk to. He also introduced me to several of the CS faculty. (Also, I met the technical support dude for the department, who has climbed 7 of the world's 9 tallest peaks, including Everest.) I'm hoping that getting to meet them (and actually spending a fair amount of time talking with Dr. Lambert) will help my chances there. I would really love to work there...
ETA: apparently they weren't impressed, because they did not invite me back for an interview. Ah well. Best of luck to 'em. I'm sure they'll do well.