Mark D. Hill Gene M. Amdahl & John P. Morgridge Professor Emeritus of Computer Sciences

Amusement

My Erdös Number is 3, because Paul Erdös wrote a paper with

1. Michael E. Saks, who wrote a paper with
2. Anne E. Condon, who wrote a paper with
3. Mark D. Hill.

George E. P. Box, Statistician, 1987:
Essentially, all models are wrong, but some are useful.

Fred Schneider, Cornell Computer Scientist, 2014:
I strive to write papers that will be the first paper, the best paper, or the last paper on a subject.

Doug Burger, Microsoft Research, 2014, from Microsoft Strategist Tren Giffen channeling investor Howard Marks:
Disproportionate returns (in research and investing) come from correct non-consensus forecasts.

The Great Questions by Robert Fulghum:
Often expressed in anger (e.g., parent to child), but better used for philosophical enquiry.

• What on earth have you done?
• What will you think of next?
• Who do you think you are?

Fred Brooks (quoted by Almasi & Gottlieb):
Einstein argued that there must be simplied explanations of nature, because God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer.

Norman Augustine (quoted by Gray & Reuter):
Software is like entropy. It is difficult to grasp, weights nothing, and obeys The Second Law of Thermodynamics; i.e., it always increases.

Douglas Adams, author, futurist:
There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

(Robert) Zak's Razor, 1997:

• Architects say, "It COULD work."
• Implementors say, "It SHOULD work."
• Verifiers say, "It WILL work."

A 21st Century Update, 2007, by Shailender Chaudhry, Robert Cypher, and Anders Landin:

• Implementors say, "It WON'T work."
• Verifiers say, "It DOESN'T work."
• Architects say, "It MUST work."

Photos

Mark's 1974 Science Fair Project -- a Mechanical Binary Adder. Click for 3.7MB image.

Mark, fresh from his Ph.D. (1988)

Proof that Mark is into Hardware (wrist after 1995 bike accident)

Mark with Univ. of Texas Professors (1999 in Austin)

Mark as Contemplative Viking (2001 ISCA banquet)

Mark D. Hill with Hardware, 2006 Photo by Bob Rashid. Click Here for 35MB tif image.

Yale Patt, Yale Patt (?), and moderator Joel Emer (Single- vs. Multi-Thread Debate at CARD/HPCA 2007)

Wild-West-style resolution of the CARD 2007 debate (photoshopped by Mike Marty)

Mark Hill (right) Drafted to Dance at VLDB Banquet (8/2008)

Some Wisconsin Computer Architects with Bucky Badger (10/2008):
Brad Beckmann, Kevin Moore, David Wood, Bucky Badger, Steve Scott,
Babak Falsafi, Mark Hill, Guri Sohi, and Mike Marty. Click for 2MB image.

Mark Hill and Sue Dentinger in Giant Gerbil Wheel at Wonderball (08/2010),
a benefit for the Madison Children's Museum. Click for 8MB image.

Mark Hill with Cray-1 at Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA (12/2012),
Click for large image.

Mark Hill in Google Street View Car at Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA (12/2012).

Some Computer Architects at Caesarea (left to right): David Kaeli, Josep Torrellas, Jim Smith, Mark Hill, Doug Burger, Jim Goodman, Avi Mendelson, Luiz Barroso, and Uri Weiser (6/2013). Click for 2.1MB photoshopped image.

Mark in Ph.D. Robes (5/2014). Click for 7.5MB image.

Sue Dentinger, Bucky Badger, & Mark Hill at UW CS Dept. 50th Anniversary (9/2014). Click for 5MB image.

Wisconsin Professors Jim Smith (left), David Wood, & Mark Hill at MICRO'14
Banquet in King's College, Cambridge (It looked like Hogwarts) (12/2014).

Mark Hill Enroute to CS Graduation Reception (5/2015). Click for 2.5MB image.