From suits to circuits: Jacob Sorber powers the next generation of computing talent

Josiah Hester was nearing the completion of his Ph.D. at Clemson University and needed a suit for job interviews as he sought his first position on a university faculty, so his advisor, Jacob Sorber, drove him to Atlanta and bought him one.

The charcoal-colored suit, which still hangs in Hester’s closet, helped launch a career that a few years later led to a spot on the faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology and this year to a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

“Without him, none of that would have happened,” said Hester, the Catherine M. and James E. Allchin Early Career Professor at Georgia Tech. “I didn’t know anything about research before joining Jacob’s lab. It was very transformative, definitely a change in the path.”

Sorber’s trip to Atlanta to buy a suit for Hester, his first Ph.D. student, is just one example of how he has gone the extra mile to shape next-generation talent and pioneer new computing techniques.

Several of Sorber’s former students described him as personable and deeply invested in their success. They said they went from his students to his colleagues after graduation.

By traditional measures of higher education, Sorber has done very well since arriving at Clemson in 2012 as an assistant professor.

He has received CAREER and Fulbright awards and achieved the rank of full professor in the School of Computing. He is a pioneer in batteryless computing, and his former students have gone to influential positions in academia and with a wide range of industry leaders such as Google and SpaceX.

But Sorber has also shared his knowledge and experience in less traditional ways. A YouTube channel he started updating regularly eight years ago to help answer some of his students’ frequently asked questions has grown to 302 videos with 174,000 subscribers as of early March 2025.

Sorber said one of the best parts of working in academia is the opportunity to help students get started.

“One of my former students who worked in my lab just defended his dissertation for his Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon, and he invited me to join over Zoom,” Sorber said. “And I’m just thinking, this feels like I’m part of creating these really amazing people, like I’m helping them get their start. That for me is incredibly satisfying in a way that has surprised me over my career– just how much joy that brings.”

Brian C. Dean, the C. Tycho Howle Director of the School of Computing, said Sorber embodies the best of academia—not just through pioneering research, but through mentorship that changes lives.

“His impact reaches beyond Clemson, inspiring students to push boundaries and become leaders,” Dean said. “We are fortunate to have him shaping the next generation of computing innovators.”

Among them is Nicole Tobias, who was president of the School of Computing Graduate Student Association when Sorber first arrived at Clemson. Tobias, now an assistant professor of computer science at Wofford College, remembered Sorber had a way of breaking the ice to get beyond polite pleasantries.

“He stopped me and said, ‘So, have you figured out your weird hobby yet?'” Tobias recalled. “And I asked, ‘What do you mean?’ And he said, ‘Oh, yeah, we all get one in graduate school as a way to cope.’ Jacob later become my Ph.D. advisor, and his guidance and mentorship played a pivotal role in shaping my journey. The lessons he imparted helped pave my way.”

Sorber’s weird hobby? Cheesemaking, she remembered Sorber saying.

Kevin Storer, now a user experience researcher at Google, said he learned from both Sorber and Hester while a master’s student at Clemson. He remembered Sorber carefully reading every word of each paper they wrote together and giving specific, constructive feedback.

“He would get into the weeds with you and really mentor you,” Storer said. “I think the proof is in the fact that every one of his students is successful and is doing what they wanted to do and being really, really good at it.”