Rate My Professor Ge Wang

Ge Wang is an Associate Professor of Music in the Arts and Culture faculty at Stanford University, affiliated with the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) and holding a courtesy appointment in Computer Science. He specializes in computer music design, encompassing programming languages and interactive software for music, interaction design, mobile music, laptop orchestras, expressive virtual reality design, aesthetics of music technology, and interdisciplinary education in computer science and music. Wang earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University in 2008, an M.S. from the same institution in 2003, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Duke University in 2000. He authored the ChucK music programming language, serves as the founding director of the Stanford Laptop Orchestra (SLOrk), and co-founded the Stanford Mobile Phone Orchestra (MoPhO). Additionally, he co-founded Smule, which has reached over 200 million users with music-making applications, and designed the iPhone's Ocarina and Magic Piano.

Wang's career at Stanford began as an Assistant Professor in 2007, advancing to Associate Professor in 2017; he also served as an instructor at Dartmouth College in 2006. He is a Senior Fellow and Associate Director at Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI). His seminal book, Artful Design: Technology in Search of the Sublime (Stanford University Press, 2018), received a Silver Medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards (2019). Key publications include "ChucK: A Concurrent, On-the-fly Audio Programming Language" (2003, 277 citations), "PLOrk: The Princeton Laptop Orchestra, Year 1" (2006, 176 citations), "The laptop orchestra as classroom" (2008), and "Ocarina: Designing the iPhone's Magic Flute" (2014). Wang has garnered prestigious awards such as the 2016 Guggenheim Fellowship, Apple Hall of Fame App for Ocarina (2010), Creativity 50 Awards (2009, 2010), and the Silicon Valley 40 Under 40 (2009). He contributes to the field as an editorial board member for Stanford University Press since 2018 and through influential projects that have shaped laptop ensemble performances and mobile music globally.