Alumnus sponsors undergraduate computer programming competition
In 1994, when most college students were still using landlines to call home, Case Western Reserve University had something rare: internet access in every room across campus. For Paul Buchheit, that single detail stood out—and signaled that CWRU was where he belonged.
“It’s something that is so common now, but CWRU was really ahead of its time,” said Buchheit (CWR ’98; GRS ’98, computer engineering; HON ’12), who went on to transform digital communication around the globe by creating Gmail. “It was an environment where we were encouraged to live in the future and build what’s missing.”
In his first year on campus, Buchheit participated in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, with the CWRU team ultimately tying for 11th place internationally. The experience opened doors—including a summer internship with Microsoft, where he worked on Windows 95 and learned JAVA just as it emerged.
Now, Buchheit wants to give today’s Case Western Reserve students the same opportunity.
The alumnus recently gave $75,000 to launch the RFB Programming Competition. Named for his late father, electrical engineer Robert F. Buchheit, the undergraduate coding contest took place in April with two major prizes: $50,000 for first place, $25,000 for second.
“When I thought about how to give back, I asked: Where can the money make the biggest difference?” said Paul Buchheit, now a partner with the technology startup accelerator and venture capital firm, Y Combinator. “Giving directly to students through a competition like this felt like the best answer.”
For inaugural first-place winner Jesse Silverberg, it certainly made a difference. Silverberg will graduate this week with both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science, as well as a bachelor’s degree in music. The competition prize money will help offset living costs as Silverberg moves to Montréal for his PhD.
“It’s nice to be able to graduate with a win under my belt,” he said. “I’m very grateful that the university has received such a gift that will help to raise the profile of competitive programming around campus, and am excited to see how this culture develops at CWRU.”
Second-place winner Ryan Volkin felt similarly.
“The RFB Programming Competition was a fun and challenging experience. Each programming question was a puzzle that really pushed my problem solving and coding abilities to their limits,” said Volkin, a rising second-year undergraduate majoring in computer science. “[Winning second place] is a big confidence booster and will encourage me to keep challenging myself, knowing that I’m able to succeed.”
Buchheit hopes the competition will continue to drive bold thinking, just as CWRU did for him. “It’s about enabling students to do more, to be a little less constrained,” he said. “And maybe even helping identify the kind of outliers who go on to build something big.”
