Brent and Elaine Leback Professor in Engineering

In December 2024, in anticipation of the opening of the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, Brent D. Leback, ’84, and Elaine Hill Leback, ’86, established a professorship focused on using artificial intelligence and other computing tools to solve climate science problems. The professorship will have strong ties to the Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, building faculty expertise with the facility’s supercomputer.

Brent studied math at Oregon State before landing on computer science, a field he thought had promising job opportunities. His hunch worked out: after co-founding a company, he managed a software group that was eventually purchased by NVIDIA, giving Brent a new chapter in his career building software tools for supercomputers and working with climate and weather models. Elaine Hill Leback loved her time at OSU, where she met Brent through Greek life, but transferred to Portland State University when the couple relocated to the Rose City after Brent’s graduation. A marble sculptor and mosaic artist, Elaine has worked as a visual merchandiser and art teacher.