School Of Engineering
ENGR 162: Introduction to Engineering Workshop
SYS 453: Systems Design I
SYS 730: Time Series Analysis and
Forecasting
Q: Where did you attend college?
A: I was an oddball -- I finished college a little early. They didn't offer calculus at my high school, so I went to the library and got a hold of a calculus book by Prof. Rutland, a professor at Virginia Tech. I got a Presidential Alumni Scholarship to Tech, and I went to see Prof. Rutland. He gave me an impromptu calc test and arranged for me to have advanced-placement calculus. I finished college in one and a half years. I was a physics major, but I got corrupted by pure mathematics. I had a very good education at Tech; they really care about their students.
Q: What brought you to U.Va.?
A: I'm a Virginia hillbilly boy by birth and conviction. I stopped off in Charlottesville and thought it might be a good place to come back to. I became a visiting scholar from 1982 to 1983 at the Center for Public Choice run by James Buchannan, who won a Nobel Prize. I was interested in economics and finance, but as I got older my tastes changed, and the problems that appealed to me weren't ones that fit in traditional academic pigeonholes. I became a Dean's Fellow at U.Va. for my Ph.D. and finished in 1990.
Q: What type of research did you do for your dissertation?
A: I had an idiotically simple idea of partially-observed Markov decision processes that worked well. This idea is now called "Lark Filtering," and when I heard that my head swelled. It was very flattering.
Q: How did you begin your career at U.Va.?
A: I was teaching as adjunct professor in systems engineering, and the department seemed to think I was a pretty good professor so they kept inviting me back. In the spring of 1999, I guess the E-School decided they couldn't live without me, and I became a full-time member of the faculty. I'm now the director of the financial engineering research facility at U.Va. I took an interesting path to get there.
Q: What other positions do you hold?
A: I'm a member of the Athletic Advisory Council that reports to President Casteen. Even though I'm a Virginia Tech boy, I'm still a rabid supporter of U.Va. athletics. I also serve as the Faculty Fellow for Sigma Nu fraternity.
Q: Does that have anything to do with the fact that you like to brew your own beer at home?
A: My reputation precedes me. I don't think the beer had anything so much to do with it as the fact that I know something about beer and wine and fine gentlemen's clothing and can talk about sports all day. When I was a student I didn't drink beer, but my tastes changed. When I develop a taste for something, I want to know what goes into it, so I did research on brewing and started doing it myself. Now I visit breweries around the country, and I'm treated as if I'm a long-lost brother. When they see you share that love, that passion, it's like you're a member of the family.
Q: What else do you like to do in the kitchen?
A: I like to cook, and one of these days I might do something stupid like open a restaurant. My favorite foods are Indian, Southeast Asian, Thai and good Chinese. As I've gotten older, I've gone back to the continental style -- good Italian, good German and classic French cuisine.
Q: How did you become involved in the Libertarian Party?
A: I happened to agree with their philosophical positions, and they agreed with mine. I was chairman and CEO of the Libertarian Party from 2000 to 2002. My high school buddies would have laughed if you'd told them Jim Lark would be chairing the third largest political party when he grew up. I actually don't like politics; I much prefer to talk to people about beer, science and soccer. But I believe in personal responsibility like the Libertarian Party advocates. It's not fair to ask others to fight for my liberty if I'm not willing to do it for myself.
Q: How did you balance time between politics and teaching?
A: I was able to balance reasonably well, but I made sure my professor duties came first. I've always been scrupulous about not talking about politics in the classroom. I go to great lengths to avoid getting into my political opinions, which is hard because I teach some classes about public policy and financial matters. Most of my students are very interested in my work, and one of my students on Residence Staff asked me to talk in front of his residence hall.
Q: What other interests do you have?
A: Well, I'm also a musician. I'm getting to the point as a drummer where I'm mediocre. I've advanced from dreadful to poor to not at all good to mediocre. I can keep a decent back-beat. Like most boys, I took piano lessons when I was younger but was more interested in basketball. Later, I taught myself how to play the violin and the viola -- I play both with equal inability. I've played with string quartets and as a member of assembles.
Q: What is the best advice you give to your
students?
A: I tell them to strive to maintain the highest standards of intellectual integrity, to bend over backwards to be accurate and fair, and to treat people with courtesy and respect. Life is too short to be mean to people; treat them the way you'd want to be treated. I have this idea that truth exists and that one of life's glories is time to seek it.
-- Interview by Lytle Wurtzel
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