Chris Piech

Despite having American parents, Chris Piech — assistant professor of computer science at Stanford’s School of Engineering, and, by courtesy, of education at the GSE — said his first opportunity to live in the United States came when he joined Stanford’s undergraduate class in 2006. 

“I was raised in a community in Kenya until I was 12,” said Piech, whose parents built a career teaching physics and philosophy abroad. “Then we moved to Malaysia, and I got to experience an entirely different corner of this beautiful world.”

Coming to campus to study computer science, Piech says he soon felt “the magic” of discovering a subject that fits his interests and the enjoyment of passing on what he learned to others. That spark led him to later complete both his master’s in computer science and his PhD in artificial intelligence at Stanford.

Now, as a faculty member, he taps into his love for computer science and teaching to both instruct others, and study how people learn.

“I continue to get to live out this union of computer science and thoughtful education, all just a short walk apart on campus,” he said.

One of the biggest things to come out of this union has been Code In Place, a free intro-to-coding course that connects thousands of students and teachers. Through the program, Stanford professors — including Piech, who co-created the learning platform — and others have taught the fundamentals of computer programming to more than 40,000 learners of all ages and backgrounds across the globe. 

In the classroom, Piech has taught courses on computational education, probability for computer scientists, and AI for social good, among others.

“I work with incredible people, and I really am excited for all of their careers,” Piech said. “I think when I look back at my life, the thing I’ll be the most proud of is the people I mentored and how they picked up on their own next steps of their career — and how they passed on what I taught them to other folks.”