The Computer Science Department is one of the oldest registered programs in New York. It was approved on campus in 1969, and approved by SUNY Central and registered by the State Education Department in 1970.

The first student graduated in 1971 and today the programs housed in our department total over 300 majors.

In 1988 a multidisciplinary committee designed the Information Science major, the second such registered program in New York. In 1990, SUNY Oswego began offering programs that might be completed with evening courses only -- and the Information Science Evening Degree Program was the second degree offered.

Beginning in 1995, the Computer Science Department delivered the first course SUNY Oswego offered via distance learning.

The Department switched to Java as the programming language of choice in August 1995. During the Fall of 1997, the department began using its first lab of JavaStations, based on a grant from Sun to Mohammadi and Lea. By Fall 1998, Sun had donated an additional 6 Javastations for use in our programming lab (aka the JunkYard), and our hardware lab (Room 322) had been renovated to hold 30 multimedia PCs.

(Dr. Oebele Van Dyk, the founder and first chair, has written a reminiscence of the early years.)