Memorable CS Professors

Hacker News users share personal anecdotes praising former computer science professors for their engaging teaching styles, intellectual energy, and lasting impact on students' learning and problem-solving skills.

📉 Falling 0.5x Career & Jobs
3,796
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#5112
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
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2008
65
2009
109
2010
156
2011
164
2012
154
2013
198
2014
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2015
202
2016
226
2017
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2018
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2019
259
2020
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2021
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2022
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2023
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2026
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Keywords

CS PLT AI TON HN LEARNED UT NYU www.imdb POSITIVE professor class taught teacher students courses guy university college math

Sample Comments

nqureshi Oct 14, 2012 View on HN

Wow, you took his class - that's incredible!Do you have any class notes / resources you could share? I love the guy.What was he like as a teacher / in person?

jtokoph Jan 2, 2019 View on HN

Saw his name at the top of HN and immediately came to post the same thing. He taught me how to think and problem solve in a whole new way. Was the most memorable class and instructor for me.

derekjobst May 31, 2014 View on HN

Wow I had this professor last semester. Great guy!

ethbr1 Nov 26, 2023 View on HN

Was he that assembly professor who was way to interesting to be just a professor? Had a similar one.

hibbelig Apr 10, 2021 View on HN

We had student surveys at university, and one professor was admired for his leg work during lecture :-)

sg47 Mar 7, 2025 View on HN

I was his TA a long time back for Great Ideas in Computer Science. Wonderful man! I'm happy to see him still active and publishing.

metalforever Aug 15, 2022 View on HN

I had this guy as a professor and he was great.

happy4crazy Sep 18, 2013 View on HN

I'm not remotely qualified to comment on the content, but I was very lucky to have Nima as a professor in college. He was an incredibly exciting lecturer--he practically glowed with intellectual energy.

gnucarsmell Feb 23, 2012 View on HN

Long time lurker here. Finally made an account to back up my man Professor Eggert! What an awesome guy and a great teacher. His classes are insanely hard: you cried, you contemplated suicide, then homicide, then you LEARNED... A TON. I wish he would record his lectures and put them up for the world to see.Also I'm glad to see my membership fees being put to good use. Also, "hello world."

the_af Sep 8, 2025 View on HN

A teacher of mine at university :)And yes, quite a "character".