Erich Baker: Dr. Erich Baker, Ph.D., is a professor of computer science at Belmont University and Vice Provost for Research & Strategic Initiatives. Prior to joining Belmont in the summer of 2023, Dr. Baker held the position of professor of bioinformatics at Baylor University. During his 21-year tenure at Baylor, Dr. Baker occupied various administrative roles, including Departmental Chair of Computer Science and Interim Dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science. Dr. Baker's research expertise lies in convergent functional genomics, distributed databases, and the application of graph theory, machine learning, and data science to investigate complex trait diseases in humans. His impactful work has received funding from institutions such as the NIH, NSF, DOE, DOD, and CDC, resulting in over 50 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals and more than a hundred associated presentations at national and international conferences.
Bill Booth: Dr. William A. Booth, Ph.D., serves as the Associate Chair and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at Baylor University's School of Engineering and Computer Science in Waco, Texas. Holding a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and an M.S. in Computer Science from Baylor University, Dr. Booth has an exemplary academic and professional background. His research interests lie at the intersection of computer science education and pedagogy, with a particular emphasis on innovative teaching methodologies such as gamification and secure coding. Dr. Booth has an extensive portfolio of published works and presentations at prominent conferences, underscoring his dedication to advancing educational practices in computer science.
Throughout his career, Dr. Booth has received numerous accolades, including being named a Baylor Fellow and receiving the Baylor University Outstanding Professor Award. His contributions to the academic community are further highlighted by his involvement in significant grant-funded projects aimed at improving retention and degree completion in engineering and computer science. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Booth actively participates in professional organizations, including the Association for Computing Machinery and the American Educational Research Association. Dr. Booth continues to inspire both students and colleagues through his innovative approach to teaching and his unwavering commitment to educational excellence.
Tomas Cerny: Dr. Tomas Cerny, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Systems and Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona, Tucson, previously serving at Baylor University, TX, and the Czech Technical University in Prague. He earned a Doctoral degree in 2016 in Prague and tenured in 2023 at Baylor.
His research focus is Software Engineering, Static Analysis, Cloud Computing Applications, and Software Architecture; his research spans Competitive Programming and Computer Science Education. He served 15 years as the lead developer of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Management System and currently is the ICPC Challenge chair. He authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed publications with H-index 25. Among his awards are the seven best papers related to Cloud Computing and NLP, the 2023 Baylor Scholarship Award, the Outstanding Service Award ACM SIGAPP 2018 and 2015, and the 2011 ICPC Joseph S. DeBlasi Outstanding Contribution Award. He actively serves the scientific community and was or is on the organizing committee for IEEE SOSE, ESOCC, SANER, ACM SAC, ACM RACS, and ICITCS.
Christian Yongwhan Lim: Prof. Christian Yongwhan Lim is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University, where he also serves as Head Coach of the university’s International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) team.
Lim is deeply involved in the global competitive programming community. He currently chairs the ICPC Competitive Learning Institute (CLI) Symposium. He also co-chairs the ICPC Curriculum Committee, serves as Director of ICPC Internships, and is Chief Judge for the ICPC North America Mid-Central Regional. At Columbia, he is a principal organizer of the Competitive Programming Training Camp.
Prior to his academic and volunteer roles, Lim held various positions in industry, including Principal Engineer at Fun.xyz, Senior Quantitative Software Engineer at Two Sigma Investments, and Research Software Engineer at Google. He pursued doctoral studies in Operations Research at MIT for three years under the mentorship of Professor Asuman Ozdaglar. Lim earned a BS in Computer Science and Mathematics (double major) and an MS in Computer Science, both from Stanford University.
Bill Poucher: Dr. William Poucher, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest and has directed the ICPC since 1988. He has served as World Finals Judge, South Central Regional Director, and a co-coach. He serves on the Board of the UPE Honor Society in the Computing Sciences. Dr. Poucher served as Professor of Computer Science at Baylor University for 40 of his 50 years of university services. He is an ACM Fellow. He is recipient of the University of Warsaw Medal. He developed systems in energy management, communications, synthetic vaccine research, and global enterprise tools. He is a Texan and co-founder of acm.org and the ICPC.
