Bill Pugh, computer science professor emeritus, jokes that he is “very bad” at retirement.
A pioneer in programming languages and software engineering, he taught at Maryland for nearly a quarter century and became a successful entrepreneur. For the last several years, he’s been a passionate booster and fundraiser for the new Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering.
Now he’s giving students there the freedom to explore their ideas in that building, signing an agreement yesterday to give $500,000 to staff and operate the Jagdeep Singh Family makerspace. He and his wife, Lisa Orange, are also making another $250,000 gift to coordinate the campus’ makerspaces, designated areas equipped for students to invent and create. The gift was a significant boost for Giving Day, the university’s annual 24-hour fundraising marathon.
“The Iribe Center…
