Dr. Roger Mailler appointed new head of Department of Computer Science
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | egosney@okstate.edu
The Oklahoma State University Department of Computer Science has selected a new department head. Dr. Roger Mailler was hired following a national search.
Mailler comes to OSU following faculty roles at the University of Tulsa and a program director role at the National Science Foundation. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, Mailler received degrees at Stony Brook University and his doctorate at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
“After joining the National Science Foundation, I really began to understand that I get a great deal of personal fulfillment from helping others succeed,” Mailler said. “I realized this is the perfect role for me because as a head, you get to directly support students, faculty and staff.”
With research interests in intelligence, Mailler is working with artificial intelligence to both answer questions about and build intelligent machines.
“Intelligence is largely an enigma,” Mailler said. “There are many ways to go about approaching this question, but I choose to look at examples of simple intelligence in the hopes of identifying the basis of intelligence and then growing that into something greater. My work heavily overlaps into biology as a result.”
Although he is only a few weeks into his role, Mailler sees the opportunity to promote growth for the department — a sentiment shared by the College of Arts and Sciences interim dean, Dr. Keith Garbutt.
“Dr. Mailler brings a unique perspective to our computer science program,” Garbutt said. “Welcoming Dr. Mailler to the Cowboy family has been a pleasure. His background and experiences will be an asset to the college.”
To learn more about the ABET-accredited computer science program at OSU, visit the department’s website.
Story By: Erin Weaver, CAS Communications Coordinator | erin.weaver@okstate.edu