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Frederick P. Brooks, who founded UNC’s computer science department, recently received the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Centennial Medal from Harvard University. Brooks, a Kenan professor of computer science at UNC, was one of four 2007 recipients. The medal honors contributions to society deemed to have emerged from a graduate education at Harvard. Brooks earned his doctorate in applied mathematics (computer science) from Harvard in 1956. A pioneer in computer science, Brooks worked as a graduate student under Howard Aiken, inventor of the early Harvard computers. He later joined IBM, where he worked during the 1950s and 1960s. He was project manager for the development of IBM’s System/360 family of computers and the Operating System/360 software. For this work, he received a National Medal of Technology in 1985, jointly with Bob O. Evans and Erich Bloch of IBM. Brooks founded UNC’s computer science department in 1964 and chaired it for 20 years. His principal research is on virtual reality: real-time, three-dimensional computer graphics. Brooks’ work has helped biochemists solve the structure of complex molecules and enabled architects to virtually walk through structures still being designed.