Language and computing at Duke University; or, virtue triumphant, for the time being

When we honor John R. Russell we honor him, to be sure, and a handful of others of his generation who opened this new field and began or advanced its cultivation. Appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, this is not a wholly selfless activity. We are drawing maps by which to orient ourselves, to locate ourselves in time and the metaphorical space of our hard work. When we honor any pioneering individual and individuals we are, in the same gesture, defining our common field of endeavor. Because our work is new, our reflection upon it will also incline to be new. Its history will not provide, by itself, easy and obvious plots on which to hang the facts.