The three secrets of successful teaching are preparation, preparation, and preparation. My goal is to enter the classroom with complete command of the lecture material and a clear plan for presenting that material to the students. This gives me the freedom to improvise, and to present the material from a variety of different viewpoints.

I find that it is essential to be in a relaxed frame of mind when I teach. Tension and fatigue make me impatient in handling questions, hinder my ability to sense the mood of the class, interfere with the spontaneous flow of humor and, in general, make me come across to the class as less of a human being. I make it a point to set aside a few minutes before each class to meditate and center myself. I find that when I go into the classroom both prepared and relaxed, teaching becomes a magical and deeply rewarding experience. Under those ideal conditions the process of presenting the material and interacting with the class somehow becomes effortless and yet totally involving.

Each of my lectures is built around a small number of concepts, which I try to present as simply, clearly, and completely as possible. During a lecture I try to move ahead at a brisk yet unhurried pace, to sense when the class is following, and to go over material from alternate points of view until I feel that it is understood. I try to sense how much intensity the class can take, and, at appropriate points in the lecture, I lighten the experience through humor and dialogue with the class.

It is far better to say "I don't know" than to evade or belittle a student's question. On occasion my inability to answer a probing question has drawn the class into an intense and fruitful discussion. Such moments are among my most cherished memories as a teacher.

The teaching of computer science courses presents special challenges because of the youth of the subject and the short distance from the research frontier to the undergraduate curriculum. In my own field, computational complexity theory, there has been a continual migration of topics from graduate seminars into our upper-division core courses, and from there into the lower-division courses.

I view the writing of a dissertation as a critical stage in the student's process of intellectual maturation and self-discovery; if the process is successful, then the student emerges as an independent scholar with a zest for research and a sense of his or her own scientific tastes and capabilities. My aim as an advisor is to facilitate this process, but never dictate the direction of a student's research or subordinate the student's work to my own research goals.