Once upon a time, when the COVID was upon us, I retreated into my lab to write a book on the history of computing. I was fortunate, privileged, and delighted to get the chance to interview some of the people who built the foundational technologies that power our digital lives. People who invented the first data packets, installed the first nodes on the internet, developed the first search engines, and founders of companies that have become household names. Many from the history of computing began their careers as academics. Their original research was published as they pursued their PhDs. I started to notice some trends. A few notable ones caught…