>> So my name is Guy Lowman and I work for IBM Research and I work on research and databases.
Well, I don't work directly with clients.
I'm doing research in the -- fundamental research in how
to organize information and how to retrieve it fast.
And so, you know, my job entails being familiar with the literature,
coming up with new techniques, prototyping those techniques and so forth.
But I manage a group of about five PhD level computer scientists who are working with me
and we all work on it together as a team.
Well, I work, as I said, with a bunch of PhD level guys that are all brilliant
and so that's really a lot of fun.
I do a lot of recruiting too.
I didn't mention that.
But, you know, trying to recruit people and retain the people we have in Silicon Valley.
They should have a PhD in computer science or related fields and --
for example, my PhD was not in computer science but that was a long time ago.
It was in operations research.
So they should have a PhD and several publications now.
That wasn't expected when I first got into the biz, but these days we would expect
to see several major publication -- publications in the leading conferences or journals.
So I went to Pomona as an undergraduate and I majored in math.
And I didn't decide so much as it was decided for me.
Pomona wasn't my first choice, but it was the one I got into and I'm really glad that I did.
Then I had a year in between undergraduate and graduate school
because I had a military obligation at the time.
So I worked for six months, skied in the Alps for six weeks and then went to graduate school.
And I started in the PhD program at Cornell University.
I got a master's along the way.
And so I got my PhD, officially, in 1977.
Don't worry about exactly, you know, finding the ideal job.
Grab an opportunity that comes along.
A lot of my career, I recognized was serendipity.
It just -- it sort of happened.
But I was ready to embrace whatever happened and go for it.