Keith Cooper is the L. John and Ann H. Doerr Chair in Computational Engineering, professor of computer science and of electrical and computer engineering. His primary research area has been program analysis and optimization. He was one of the founding members of the compiler group at Rice, has published more than 75 articles and advised 18 doctoral students. He is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, and teaches several courses in compiler construction and was recently named chair of the computational and applied mathematics (CAAM) department at Rice University.
In April 2019, Cooper’s passion for training up the next generation of students was recognized with a George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching.
Fun fact: For over a decade, students and their families also recognized Cooper as the man behind the mace.