Peter Brass


[PHOTO]


I am Professor of Computer Science at the City College of New York. My interests are problems related to Geometry, Algorithms, Data Structures, including problems in robotic exploration, sensor networks, pursuit games, and other things. If you have a nice problem, you can tell me about it; if you need a nice problem, I can tell you many. I mainly teach Algorithms classes, undergraduate and graduate.

From early 2021 until the beginning of March 2025 I was Program Director in the National Science Foundation (NSF), Computer Science Directorate (CISE), Computing and Communication Foundations Division (CCF). My home program was Algorithmic Foundations (AF), of which I was Lead from summer 2023 on, but I served also several other programs, of which I liked robotics (FRR) and REU-Sites best. I very much enjoyed the time at the NSF, but it might be right now (March 2025) less enjoyable. I am always willing to discuss NSF.

For my publications, you can look at

I have also several books,

I am currently gathering material on the history of the computer science directorate at NSF; if that works out, it will be entirely based on public documents. The problem with that is that information now exists only on web pages, and web pages change and disappear. Documenting history becomes a different task in a paperless environment.

I have also some abandoned, or at least dormant, book projects, which might be revived if there is interest. Farthest along were the 'Notes on Asymptotic Analysis and Recursion'. They are available as letter-sized and A4-sized ps-file. There is also a book fragment on computer generation of images, with the postscript programming language, or with a raytracer. Here are some examples of images I made: the octahedra packing, the dendrites, the random reflecting ball packing.

I still believe in the importance of open problems to guide and shape a field; at some time I would like to write a counterpart of the Problem Book for Computer Science problems.


I spent in my pre-NSF years much time with various governance roles; I was in the City College Faculty Senate, the CUNY University Faculty Senate, and many committees. I also was for a year the City College Ombudsperson, but I did not run for re-election; I hope others are doing this job more successful than me. I produced a Report whose issues are still valid. I must express my frustration: after four years at the NSF I came back to CCNY, and nothing changed: same people running the same committees discussing the same issues.

There are also many other sides to being a professor; here is a selection. All these are volunteer jobs, unpaid and without release time.


My office is in NAC 8/216 (the inner office, the outer room does not belong to me).


Last revision of this web page February 28, 2025


Peter Brass ( pbrass@ccny.cuny.edu),

City College of New York, CUNY

Department of Computer Science

Convent Avenue at 138th Street

New York, NY-10031

USA