Prof. Dr. Cay Horstmann
Prof. Dr. Cay Horstmann studied Computer Science at Syracuse University (USA) and Mathematics and Computer Science at Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel and completed his studies in 1987 with a doctorate in mathematics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (USA). From 1986 to 1996 he ran his own company, Horstmann Software Design Corporation, and from 1997 to 2000 he was Vice President/Chief Technology Officer at Preview Systems Inc. From 1987 to 2019 he was a professor of computer science at the Department of Computer Science at San Jose State University (USA). Visiting professorships took him to the Inter-University Institute of Macau from 1999 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2005, to the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (Vietnam) from 2010 to 2011, and to the Haute École d'Ingénierie et Gestion du from 2014 to 2015 Canton de Vaud (Switzerland) and in 2018 at the Free University of Berlin.
Horstmann is the author of specialist books on Java, other programming languages and software engineering, as well as a series of introductory computer science textbooks. His commitment to computer science education was recognised by the Association of Computing Machinery with the "Distinguished Educator" award.
Horstmann has been a professor of business informatics at the PFH Private University of Applied Sciences in Göttingen since December 2019, where he organises practice-oriented classes with small groups of motivated students.
Work and research interests
- Pedagogy of computer science, especially acquisition of programming skills
- Development of software for learning computer and mathematical content
- Author of specialist books on programming languages and software development
Visions and objectives
- To offer students practical instruction in modern computer science methods
- To prepare students for independent knowledge formation and lifelong learning in computer science
- To make distance learning more interesting and learner-friendly by using interactive technology
Professional activities and awards
- Member of the development committee for the College Board Advanced Placement computer science exam, 2004 – 2008
- Honorary Member of Java Champions, 2005
- Designer for the Udacity Java course CS046
- Associate Editor, ACM Transactions on Computing Education
- ACM Distinguished Member for Educational Contributions to Computing, 2017