Last month @codeorg congratulated Stanford professor Jeffrey Ullman for winning the Turing Award (the Nobel prize of computer science). We then learned this professor has a long history of bigotry, especially against Iranians like myself.
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As an Iranian myself, I was lucky to be admitted to study in the USA as a legal immigrant whose family escaped the Iran/Iraq war in 1984.
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I worked hard and had the opportunity to help build companies that employed thousands of Americans. My latest startup,
@codeorg, has introduced hundreds of millions of children to computer science, globally.Show this thread -
If Professor Jeffrey Ullman had a say in my life story, I would still be stuck in Iran. Ullman’s own words: “I will not help Iranian students.” He claims this is “a matter of principle.”
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What's most ironic is this professor explains his bigotry as a defense of American “values”. The most important American value is written in our Declaration of Independence: that we are all created equal.
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I am happy that American universities protect their professors’ right to free speech.
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But freedom of speech doesn’t mean we should reward bigotry with the most prestigious award in computer science.
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At
@codeorg, it is core to our mission and values that every student should have the opportunity to study CS. A student should not be denied opportunity based on where they were born.Show this thread -
Today, I join computer scientists from around the world to call on ACM to revisit its criteria for granting this Turing Award. Whether you are a student, an educator, or work in tech, join me in signing this letter.https://csforinclusion.wordpress.com/
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Or, retweet the statement by
@codeorghttps://twitter.com/codeorg/status/1381734032933744643?s=20 …Show this thread
End of conversation
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