November 6, 1997
UW professor to coordinate National Science Foundation’s external year 2000 efforts
The National Science Foundation has appointed University of Washington Professor Mark Haselkorn to coordinate its external efforts to address the year 2000 computer problem.
Haselkorn, professor of technical communication at the UW, will lead an effort to study the extent to which National Science Foundation-funded researchers are prepared to deal with the year 2000 bug and help them develop strategies to tackle potential problems. The central element of the problem is that many computers were programmed with two- digit representations of the calendar year, making it impossible for them to distinguish Jan. 1, 2000 from Jan. 1, 1900. Government agencies, private businesses and research organizations are scrambling to reprogram their computers to deal with the year 2000.
“Although the responsibility for addressing this issue rests with our grant recipients and their institutions, we felt that the year 2000 problem was serious enough to appoint someone to provide expert assistance,” said Steve Williams, director of resource management staff for the NSF’s division of information systems. “Mark Haselkorn is conversant on the year 2000 problem because he’s already providing leadership on the issue, he’s a good communicator and he knows the grantee community.”
Haselkorn, an expert on human-computer interaction and real-time information systems, began studying the year 2000 problem in early 1995. He currently is chairing a committee to draft a technical information statement on the issue for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the world’s largest technical professional society.
“My focus has not been so much on the technical fix but on risk analysis, contingency planning, impact mitigation, the role of policy-makers and the larger context of which the year 2000 problem is only a symptom,” Haselkorn said. “My role with the NSF will be to help shepherd external researchers through this problem with as little disruption in their activities as possible. I’m passionate about this problem because so many myths are being circulated about it and I want to help people understand the true nature of the problem and how to respond to it.”
Haselkorn’s duties will include: leading an inventory of the current situation of the NSF’s external researchers with regard to the year 2000 problem, increasing awareness and understanding of the problem, reviewing NSF plans and resources to address the problem, helping formulate NSF’s strategic position on year 2000 issues, and identifying opportunities for interactions with governmental and professional organizations on the problem.
Haselkorn remains a UW employee working under contract with the NSF through an intergovernmental personnel agreement. He joined the UW College of Engineering faculty in 1985 and served as chair of the Department of Technical Communication from 1989 until early 1997.
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For more information, contact Haselkorn at (206) 543-2577 and leave a message. He is out of town until Nov. 10 but is checking his voice mail regularly.
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