Richard “Dr. Nemo” Newman, Ph.D., recently retired from the Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) after more than 34 years. Dr. Nemo came to the University of Florida (UF) in 1986. His research areas started in the theory of distributed systems, then shifted to network protocols, distributed collaboration, distributed systems, and security.
Throughout his time at CISE, Dr. Nemo mentored many students, including high school students from underrepresented groups, Dutch exchange students, as well as many UF students. He spent time as a faculty coach for the Integrated Product and Process Design (IPPD) program at the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, where he helped students develop software solutions for Raytheon and Disney.
“One of the things I enjoyed the most and will miss is working with the IPPD teams,” he said. “I got to know the team members well and have several with whom I have become friends.”
In 1996, Dr. Nemo was awarded the UF Superior Accomplishment Award for Faculty Service. He also received the Alpha Phi Omega Distinguished Service Key in 1991. He was the department’s undergraduate coordinator from 2015 until he retired and was the graduate coordinator at various times.
Dr. Nemo helped the department achieve ABET accreditation as a self-study co-author, and introduced graduate courses in computational complexity, distributed systems, computer and network security, as well as undergraduate courses in networks, computer and network security, and cryptology. He also introduced the graduate cybersecurity certificate program.
After retiring, he will be working with Terraview PTE, an international startup, on a distributed system for the delivery of precision agriculture information to the viticulture industry.
“I have seen the department go through many ups and downs over the years, growing into the world-class department we have today,” Dr. Nemo said. “It has been exciting to see the increase in diversity amongst the faculty and the students and the development of new areas of strength like cybersecurity, human-centered computing, data science, and AI. CISE gave me the opportunity to work on some very interesting problems with some outstanding faculty and students.”
The department is thankful to Dr. Nemo for his dedication to the department and UF, and for his years of service, teaching and research.
Allison Logan
Marketing & Communications Specialist
Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering