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Chuck Thorpe

Chuck Thorpe

Chuck Thorpe

Professor
Computer Science

Email: cthorpe@clarkson.edu
Phone: 315/268-6738
Office: 174 Bertrand H. Snell Hall
Mailbox: CU Box 5760

Department(s): Department of Computer Science
School(s): School of Arts and Sciences
  • Biography
Biography

Chuck Thorpe has served as Clarkson's Dean of Arts and Sciences, as well as senior vice president and provost.

His undergraduate degree is a pre-med degree, a BA from North Park University, magna cum laude, in Natural Science.

Chuck spent the bulk of his career with the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute from 1979 to 2012, from Ph.D. student to Director of the Institute. His research group builds robot cars. The Navlab group built a self-driving car in 1989; drove autonomously across the US in 1995, and contributed to both DOD programs (the Autonomous Land Vehicle) and DOT efforts (the Automated Highway Demonstration and Single Vehicle Roadway Departure Countermeasures). Thorpe continues as Adjunct Professor of Robotics with Carnegie Mellon. He has over 120 refereed publications in robotics and supervised 20 Ph.D. students.

From 2004 – 2010 Thorpe was founding Dean and CEO of Carnegie Mellon Qatar, a branch campus in Doha, Qatar. CMUQ is sponsored by The Qatar Foundation. The Carnegie Mellon campus offers degrees in Business Administration, Computer Science, and Information Systems. CMUQ is part of Education City, along with branch campuses from Virginia Commonwealth, the Weill Cornell Medical School, Georgetown, Northwestern, and Texas A&M.

Upon returning from Qatar, in the 2011 – 2012 academic year, Thorpe was Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President. In that role, he helped coordinate policy and budget across the administration, helping set policies for future initiatives including NSF, DOD, NIH, Department of Transportation, NASA, and Department of Agriculture. He was part of the White House team that created the National Advanced Manufacturing Initiative.

Thorpe has often been called to serve on scientific or advisory committees. He has served on four different studies for the National Academies, as well as national and international advisory committees.
He has been elected Fellow of my appropriate professional societies, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).
 

Schools at Clarkson

  • Graduate School
  • School of Arts & Sciences
  • David D. Reh School of Business
  • Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering
  • Earl R. and Barbara D. Lewis School of Health Sciences
  • Institute for a Sustainable Environment
  • Early College Program: The Clarkson School
  • Institute for STEM Education
  • Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries

Highlights of Excellence

  • Career Center
  • Honors Program
  • ROTC
  • Student Projects for Engineering Experience and Design (SPEED)
  • Student Success Center
  • Writing Center

Research & Innovation

  • Clarkson Center for Complex Systems Science (C3S2)
  • The Center for Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP)
  • Center for Air and Aquatic Resources Engineering & Science (CAARES)
  • Center for Identification Technology Research (CITeR)
  • The Center for Rehabilitation Engineering, Science & Technology (CREST)
  • NYS Center of Excellence in Healthy Water Solutions
  • The Shipley Center for Innovation
  • Clarkson Ignite
  • University Libraries

Clarkson University

8 Clarkson Ave., Potsdam, New York 13699 315-268-6400
80 Nott Terrace, Schenectady, NY 12308 518-631-9831
199 Dennings Ave., Beacon, New York 12508 845-838-1600
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