William H. Turkett, Jr.
Last updated: June 8, 2026I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Wake Forest University. I received my Ph.D. in 2004 from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of South Carolina, where my research was in the area of probabilistic reasoning. My BS in Computer Science (1998) was from the College of Charleston.
Teaching
In Spring 2026, I am teaching the following courses:- CSC 301 - Algorithm Design And Analysis (3 hours)
Talks
- Graduate School In Computer Science: Is It For Me? - Talk at Wake Forest, September 9, 2024 - Click here for slides
Research
Background: My thesis advisor was Dr. John Rose, who directed my dissertation work on Robust Multiagent Plan Generation and Execution with Decision-Theoretic Planners [PDF, ~1.0MB].Interests: I am primarily interested in research into the domain of programming languages, with application to the domain of bioinformatics.
Historically, my research has focused on the use of Bayesian networks in decision making and in reverse engineering of biological networks from data, as well as machine learning over sequential data and graph data to infer protein function and to infer network activity intent. My focus, as of 2026, has shifted to the study of automated program transformations that can improve the efficiency of programs at runtime or, separately, that can facilitate program development and maintenance, with a particular interest in targeting programs developed for the analysis of biological data.
Students: If you are a current WFU computer science student interested in working with me on research, please send an email. I encourage undergraduate students to look at the Wake Forest Summer Research Fellowship Program as a means of being paid to do research. If you are a current WFU graduate student and want to discuss research, make sure to come to my CSC 781 talk in the fall semester, then send me an email.