computer science

Samir Khuller

Samir Khuller is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Samir Khuller rather than just read about it. In short: Samir Khuller (born 1965) is a professor of Computer Science and the Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at Northwestern University. He was previously Professor and Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Chair of Computer Science in the University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science.

Key takeaways

Samir Khuller belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Samir Khuller to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Samir Khuller from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Samir Khuller (born 1965) is a professor of Computer Science and the Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at Northwestern University. He was previously Professor and Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Chair of Computer Science in the University of Maryland's Department of Computer Science. His research is in the area of algorithm design, specifically on combinatorial optimization, graphs and networks and scheduling. He was named a Distinguished Scholar Teacher and received a Google Research Award in 2007.

Education and work Khuller obtained his undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and was awarded a PhD in 1990 from Cornell University as a student of Vijay Vazirani. From 1990 to 1992, he was a research associate at UMIACS (the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies), a division of the University of Maryland. In 1992 he joined the faculty of the University of Maryland Department of Computer Science. He became the Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Chair of Computer Science at the Department of Computer Science in 2012, a position he held until 2017. Khuller joined Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering in March 2019 as the first Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at the Department of Computer Science. He was named an EATCS Fellow in 2021, and elected to the Board of Directors of the Computing Research Association in 2023. He was named to the 2022 class of ACM Fellows, "for contributions to algorithm design with real-world implications and for mentoring and community-building".

Selected scientific works Khuller and Guha designed an approximation algorithms for the minimum connected dominating set problem that achieves a factor of 2 ln Δ + O(1), where Δ is the maximum degree of a vertex in G.

References

External links Samir Khuller Google Scholar profile

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Samir Khuller

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Samir Khuller claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Samir Khuller before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Samir Khuller ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Samir Khuller

In research: Samir Khuller appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Samir Khuller in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Samir Khuller is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1965 births, Computer scientist stubs, Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Samir Khuller outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Samir Khuller in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Samir Khuller means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Samir Khuller out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Samir Khuller in simple terms?

Why does Samir Khuller matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Samir Khuller?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Samir Khuller.