Honoring the Genius and Generosity of Dr. Stephen Bloom

There are many things about Professor Stephen Bloom that have remained in the ether around Stevens’ Department of Computer Science more than a decade following his death. That includes his voice, says Department Chair Dave Naumann.

“He expected students to engage in the classroom and be able to answer questions, and he could sometimes be a little strident when it didn’t happen as quickly as he wanted,” Naumann recalls. “If the students were giving him a blank stare in a theoretical computer science class, he’d yell out, ‘Use induction!’ Somebody sampled that and incorporated it into a student-implemented video game.”

But Bloom’s bark, Naumann stresses, was always worse than his bite.

“He cared deeply about his students,” Naumann says. “It wasn’t always immediately apparent, but behind that sharp tongue was this very warm person who cared a lot.”

Those students may have entered Bloom’s classroom focused on learning skills for their first jobs, but they often emerged with an appreciation for the foundational aspects of computer science. Many of Bloom’s students have achieved immense success in academia and industry, and some credit his influence as a significant contributing factor.

To honor his legacy, one of those former students made a recent $3 million gift to establish the Dr. Stephen Bloom Endowed Chair. The gift was made via their donor-advised account held at The Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. The professorship will help Stevens continue to attract top-tier computer science faculty, like Bloom, whose guidance will inspire future generations of students and tenure-track faculty.

“I’m proud to sponsor this endowed position in Professor Bloom’s honor,” says the former student. “During my undergraduate years, I was very focused on acquiring 'marketable' skills and anticipating what industry might demand. Yet, in hindsight, it was the advanced, more theoretical classes I had the privilege to take with Professor Bloom that left the most lasting impression. Those courses offered insights into the deep foundations of computer science, the kind I now wish I had appreciated more fully at the time.”

A Man of ‘Profound and Elegant Mathematical Ideas’

Bloom, a prominent leader in the field of mathematics and computer science, joined the Stevens faculty in 1967 as an assistant professor of mathematics. He became the founding director of the Department of Computer Science in 1996 and taught classes until he died in 2010.

A prolific scholar, Bloom was internationally renowned for bridging mathematics and theoretical computer science. He wrote or co-authored 100 papers and several books and published widely in academic journals, earning Stevens’ Jess Davis Research Award in 1985 and 1988. A 2011 obituary in a journal, Fundamenta informaticae, noted that Bloom was “instrumental in deepening our understanding of the nature of computation and has helped to infuse computer science with profound and elegant mathematical ideas.”

That tracks with how Bill Squier ’94, one of Bloom’s doctoral students, remembers him.

“Steve is one of the very few actual geniuses I ever met in my life,” says Squier, head of information security for XTX Markets. “Steve could seemingly skip so many steps for a problem, then arrive at a conclusion which was unerringly proven to be the right one. That was his genius: the steps for him, they all collapsed faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.” 

Championing His Colleagues’ Careers

At Stevens, Bloom helped launch dozens of academic careers—including Naumann’s. As department chair, Bloom was particularly attentive to tenure-track faculty, helping them grow in their teaching while protecting their time for research, which he knew would be key to advancing their careers. He was equally passionate about developing a curriculum that would provide a strong foundation for the department’s undergraduate and graduate students.

“He had a strong focus on good science and good education, having really solid technical courses,” Naumann recalls. “He wasn’t big on being quick to follow the latest fad, but rather he focused on making sure our students had a rigorous foundation in computing on both the practical and theoretical aspects, which in computer science are very intertwined.”

On an individual level, Squier says, Bloom emphasized students’ ability not only to think clearly but to make assertions clearly, too.

“When I mentor someone and they present me with an idea, I say, ‘So what?’, because that’s how Steve used to talk,” Squier says. “It wasn’t because he thought what you said wasn’t smart. It was a prompt to get you to explain, ‘What does your idea mean?’. You had to be able to accurately describe and prove everything you were saying. That, I think, has helped make me as successful as I am.” 

Bringing the Best and Brightest to Stevens

Recruiting mid- and senior-career computer science faculty like Bloom has become increasingly competitive for institutions nationwide. Provost Jianmin Qu has spoken with his counterparts at several institutions, including many in the Ivy League, who all say demand is well outpacing supply.

“Once you’re in that (mid- to senior-career) category, everyone is looking at you and trying to hire you away,” Qu says. “Meanwhile, your home institution is doing everything it can to retain you. So, hiring people at this stage is very challenging.”

Donor-supported positions like the Dr. Stephen Bloom Endowed Chair are valuable tools in helping to recruit such stellar scholars, Qu says. Endowed professorships are a mark of distinction for a faculty member and can provide them with stable funding to pursue lines of research without the stresses of constantly applying for grants.

Endowed professorships can also play a role in attracting younger tenure-track faculty—something Stevens’ computer science department urgently needs. Qu says that undergraduate and graduate enrollment trends for computer science are outpacing the number of faculty needed to serve these students. Distinguished senior faculty can help with the recruitment of new faculty members.

“Endowed professors as senior faculty can attract young faculty because the latter want to be around these intellectual giants and learn from them,” Qu says.

Stevens has begun a national search for the inaugural Dr. Stephen Bloom Endowed Chair with plans to have the position filled in early 2025. When that person arrives, they’ll find a tremendous opportunity to shape the future of Stevens’ Department of Computer Science—and will have the honor of continuing an exceptional legacy.