1979–1981: Northeastern assigns a blue-ribbon panel of educators and experts—including industry leaders from Bell Labs, UC-Berkeley, MIT, and Digital Equipment Corporation—to develop a strategy to advance education and research in the emerging field of computer science.

1982: Northeastern establishes the College of Computer Science (CCS), naming Director of Academic Computer Services Paul Kalaghan its first dean. The college opens its doors in Knowles-Volpe Hall (now the Knowles Center) with just 11 faculty members, most from the College of Arts and Sciences mathematics department, and 239 freshmen. The first undergraduate major offered is a BS in Computer Science.