Computer and Information Science

Exterior picture of Weir Hall.
Faculty

Dr. Jeffrey S. Vitter

17th Chancellor and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science & Information Science Emeritus

201 Weir Hall
(662) 915-7396
jsv@OleMiss.edu

Jeffrey S. Vitter is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Computer and Information Science at the University of Mississippi, adjunct professor of computer science at Tulane University, and consultant. He is an internationally known computer scientist with research expertise in big data and data science, especially the algorithmic aspects of processing, compressing, and communicating massive amounts of information. He has over 45 years of experience as a passionate advocate for higher education and a widely-sought consultant. He served on the faculty and in leadership roles at noted AAU universities Brown, Duke, Purdue, Texas A&M, and Kansas, before leading Ole Miss as its 17th chancellor from January 2016–January 2019.

The University of Mississippi (a.k.a. UM and Ole Miss) is the flagship and largest university in Mississippi, with about 2,200 faculty members, 10,600 staff, 23,250 FTE students, and an annual budget of $2.5 billion. UM is a comprehensive institution of 17 colleges and schools across the main campus in Oxford, UM Medical Center in Jackson, and four satellite campuses. Under Dr. Vitter’s watch, it achieved and re-achieved the top research ranking given by the Carnegie Foundation, R1: Doctoral Universities — Very high research activity, representing the top 2 1/2% of colleges and universities nationally.

Fueled by his belief in the power of higher education to transform lives, communities, and the world, Dr. Vitter has charted the university’s momentum through a dynamic strategic plan Flagship Forward to achieve ever greater heights. With it, Ole Miss is enhancing academic excellence with a $1 billion building program and capital planning, creation of superlative networks of faculty called Flagship Constellations, major engagement with communities through the M Partner initiative and the McLean Institute, and annual Technology Summits. To achieve a healthier Mississippi, Dr. Vitter inaugurated the state’s first Department of Biomedical Engineering, extended the capacity and reach of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and commissioned a forthright contextualization of southern symbols on campus.

Dr. Vitter has relished his role as leader and voice of the university. He greatly expanded communication and connectivity via town halls, informational blogs, and robust use of social media. He and his wife Sharon were often seen around campus, in the Grove, at athletic events, in the State Capitol, and at restaurant counters throughout Mississippi, getting to know people the old-fashioned way.

Dr. Vitter is an internationally known computer scientist with research expertise in big data and data science, especially the algorithmic aspects of processing, compressing, and communicating massive amounts of information. He has been elected a Fellow of the Guggenheim Foundation, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and he serves on several boards. He is a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator and a Fulbright Scholar, and he has been awarded an IBM Faculty Development Award, the CEO Award of Mississippi, and the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

A native of New Orleans, Vitter graduated in mathematics with highest honors from the University of Notre Dame in 1977 and earned a Ph.D. under Don Knuth in computer science at Stanford University in 1980. He also holds an MBA in 2002 from Duke University.

Research

As detailed on his research webpage, Jeff Vitter seeks to exploit the rich interdependence between computing theory and practice, primarily in four key subfields dealing with big data. He is also a genealogy expert. Dr. Vitter has authored over 375 book, journal, conference, and patent publications and is widely sought as a consultant. His Google Scholar h-index is in the 80s, and he has been an ISI highly cited researcher.

Curriculum Vitæ (CV)

See Dr. Vitter’s curriculum vitæ (42 pages) for more complete information, including a biography and a full list of publications and funding. Also available is an abridged 5-page curriculum vitæ. You can also view his board credentials and experience.

Online Publication Library

You can electronically download several of Dr. Vitter’s more recent publications via his online publication library. A small selected subset of publications is listed below.

Communications

Dr. Vitter communicates often in a variety of settings — letters, blogs, speeches, articles, interviews, videos, and social media. He and his wife Sharon are also genealogy researchers and consultants, and they maintain their family tree on the web. You can see all that on his communications webpage.

Photographs

You can download a photograph of Dr. Vitter of publication quality.

Selected Publications