“A Teacher’s Life”: Mark Stehlik reflects on lessons learned at CMU-Q

DOHA, QATAR – Mark Stehlik, a University Teaching Professor in CMU’s School of Computer Science, returned to Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) to deliver a heartfelt lecture titled “A Teacher’s Life.” The talk detailed his personal journey as an educator and underscored the profound, formative impact the Qatar campus and its students had on his career.

Stehlik’s talk was part of CMU-Q’s A. Nico Habermann Distinguished Lecture Series, which honors the founding dean of the School of Computer Science. Throughout the lecture, Stehlik underscored how pivotal moments guided him through a remarkable career of teaching computer science. One of those moments, he recalled, was in 1989 when the School of Computer Science was first created. Habermann asked Stehlik to be the director of the undergraduate CS program.

“I had never advised students before,” said Stehlik. “I learned that I loved advising students and working with them one-on-one. It has been enormously rewarding.” 

A member of the Carnegie Mellon faculty for more than 40 years, Stehlik visited Doha for the first time in 2005, advising the computer science program and meeting with students. It was a simple question from a student in the Class of 2008—the first cohort of students on the campus—that set in motion a career shift that still affects him decades later. 

“In my entire career, I have been assigned courses to teach,” Stehlik recalled. “But never, not once, had a student ever asked me, ‘Can you come teach us?'”

The following year, Stehlik began teaching on the Qatar campus, a stint that lasted until 2008. He returned in 2012, teaching computer science and serving as associate dean for education until 2015.

For Stehlik, the Qatar experience was deeply meaningful. “It was all about reference frames,” Stehlik said. “Qatar was the place that flipped my world. It was a place that forced me to check my own reference frame. I learned as much as my students learned from me.”

Stehlik will retire as the undergraduate CS program director in 2027, advising more than 4000 students over the course of his career.

In 2023, he was named University Professor, the highest rank for a Carnegie Mellon faculty member. He was the first teaching-track faculty member to receive the honor.