“Part of existing is being known, and that sign is really important to us.” Pradeep Khosla, Dean of Engineer- ing School
Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley Celebrates its Founder Jim Morris
By Richard Power
In conjunction with events related to "Inspire Innovation -- The Campaign for Carnegie Mellon," the university announced that Martin L. Griss has been named director of the Silicon Valley campus, effective July 1. Griss succeeds James Morris, founding director of Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley and former dean of Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science.
Morris is responsible for putting Carnegie Mellon Silicon Valley on the map, literally and symbolically. After all, he got the "Carnegie Mellon University" sign posted on Highay 101, the main route in and out of the heart of Silicon Valley.
In his remarks on Saturday, Pradeep Khosla, Dean of the Engineering School, remarked, “Part of existing is being known, and that sign is really important to us.”
SafeRide, a research project championed by Morris, is "a combination of ideas from Orbitz, 511.org, Google/Mapquest maps, Facebook/MySpace, eBay, Zipcar and GoLoco, that exploits GPS and cell phones."
Saferide is intended to "overcome American's seeming awkwardness or dislike of communal driving, such as carpooling," and offers "an alternative by creating a vetted registry of all participants."
In a luncheon honoring Morris, he was presented with gifts highlighting his contributions and reflecting the good will he inspired among his colleagues, including a framed caricature featuring a smiling Morris in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform, behind him are the Highway 101 Carnegie Mellon University sign and (with a dash of prophecy) a "Morris Rideshare Pickup" sign.
In return, Morris playfully presented his successor Martin Griss with three envelopes which provided guidance, based on his own experience, in overcoming challenges and triumphing in times of adversity.
Griss opened them one by one and shared them with the gathering.
The message contained in the first envelope read: "Blame it on your predecessor."
The message contained in the second enveloped read: "Reorganize."
The message contained in the third envelope read: "Prepare three envelopes."
Photos in this post courtesy of Susan Morris