I gave a dinner talk for the MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science last night. Of particular interest was the fact that the Head of the department, Prof. Eric Grimson (pictured here with his wife Prof. Ellen Hildreth of Wellesley), is a RISD parent! Even more of an interesting coincidence was the fact that Ellen was my strongest inspiration for staying on at MIT when it was at its truly hardest — Ellen was a professor at MIT when I was an undergrad. I wouldn’t have made it this far without Ellen for certain. I’m sure there are many professors at RISD that have made a similar impact on students’ lives — I continue to believe that being a professor is a truly meaningful pursuit in life.

After the dinner, I had a chance to chat briefly with one of my intellectual idols Prof. Gerry Sussman. Gerry said something quite elegant: “Being smart in the arts is the same as being smart in engineering is the same as being smart in writing is the same as being smart in anything, really. It’s the ability to manipulate all the pieces of the puzzle in your mind, try to fit them together, and when they don’t fit quite right … you sand the edges/corners and make them all fit.” This thought made me smile.