Geoffrey Challen is a Computer Science Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

With some professors, there's a before and after in your reality as a student—you see things differently. For me, that was Challen's CS 125 (now called CS 124).

After I picked up my phone and called the head of physics, he said I couldn't take Physics 211 because my transcript didn't show calculus. Even though I knew it and had taught myself, he didn't let me take it and hung up on me. I found myself with an open spot, and it was this class I'd heard so much about—CS 125 with Geoffrey Challen. I'd heard it was tough, but he was unique and idiosyncratic, and that was interesting, so I took the bait.

And it changed me. Not necessarily because of anything I learned, although it helped my understanding of how technology worked, but because of how he saw the world. He spoke openly, questioned norms, and never just went through the motions.

Unlike typical professors—front-row nerds and teacher's pets—Challen is a hacker, a rebel. He fell asleep in classes, sat in the back, resisted authority, and now builds his courses around that spirit.

His iconic cap reads τέχνῃ—the ancient Greek root of the word technology—which means "the art and skill of making." For Challen, teaching technology isn't just about tools or code; it's about guiding students to become creators. After all, perhaps we shouldn't be called Homo sapiens (the wise ones), but Homo technologicus—those who craft, build, and innovate through τέχνῃ.

Challen might not be considered the wisest by some of his colleagues, but the future—reflected in today’s students—seems to know better. They don’t call him “professor” as much as they call him “dope” or “based.”

That's what you get with Challen—not just a professor, but someone who shows you a different way to see the world, to resist conformity, to build things that you want.

Someone who proves that being yourself, even when it costs you, is worth it.

EPISODE LINKS:

• Geoffrey Challen's Website: https://www.geoffreychallen.com/
• Geoffrey Challen's Learn CS Website: https://www.learncs.online/
• Geoffrey Challen's Society and Technology Class: https://archive.is/SdNAn
• Geoffrey Challen's Reddit Account: https://www.reddit.com/user/geoffreychallen/comments/?sort=top

Books Mentioned

• When Things Go Missing by Kathryn Schulz: https://archive.is/J5ztk
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders: https://amzn.to/4k0FdbP
• Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz: https://amzn.to/43Umit4
• Coders by Clive Thompson: https://amzn.to/4jJk1GS
• The Overstory by Richard Powers: https://amzn.to/4mUCG5g
• Bewilderment by Richard Powers: https://amzn.to/446zYSS
• The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie: https://amzn.to/45fxEdx