George Ledin
American computer scientist (born 1946)
- Life
- 1946 – present
- Born
- 1946
George Ledin, Jr. was an American computer scientist and professor of computer science at Sonoma State University. Ledin's teaching of computer security at Sonoma State was controversial for its inclusion of material on how to write malware. Ledin was a strong critic of the antivirus software industry, whose products he considered almost useless. Ledin also helped found the computer science program at the University of San Francisco, and published several books on computing i
Early Life
George Ledin, Jr. was born on January 28, 1946, in Austria. He was the son of Georgii Grigorievich Ledin (1921–2019), an immigrant originally from the Georgian city of Sukhumi. His brother, Victor Ledin, would later collaborate with him on at least one published work.
Education
Ledin completed his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1967. He later earned a Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco in 1982, adding a legal dimension to his already established academic career in computer science.
Career
Ledin began teaching computer science at the University of San Francisco as early as 1965, making him the second computer scientist at the institution — a full five years before the university formally established its computer science department. He played a foundational role in building that program, and by 1980 he served as head of the computer science department there.
During his time at the University of San Francisco, Ledin was also active in the broader academic community. In 1970, he served as vice-president of The Fibonacci Association and hosted its annual meeting. By 1973, working as a researcher in the Institute of Chemical Biology and as an instructor in computer science, he chaired the first national conference on ALGOL.
In 1984, Ledin joined the faculty at Sonoma State University, where he would spend the remainder of his academic career as a professor of computer science.
Controversial Security Curriculum
Ledin attracted significant attention and controversy for his approach to teaching computer security at Sonoma State University. His courses included material on how to write malware — a pedagogical choice that generated debate within both academic and security industry circles. Ledin was a vocal critic of the antivirus software industry, whose products he considered to be almost useless. His position, articulated in part through a piece titled "Not teaching malware is harmful," reflected his belief that a thorough understanding of malicious code was essential for producing competent security professionals.
Published Works
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Ledin authored or co-authored a number of books on computing topics:
- Programming the IBM 1130 (with Robert K. Louden, 2nd ed., Prentice-Hall, 1972)
- A Structured Approach to General BASIC (Boyd & Fraser, 1978)
- The Programmer's Book of Rules (Lifetime Learning / Wiley, 1979)
- Understanding Pascal (Alfred Publishing, 1981)
- Pascal (Mayfield Publishing, 1982)
- The Personal Computer Glossary (Alfred Publishing, 1983)
- The COBOL Programmer's Book of Rules (with Victor Ledin and Michael D. Kudlick, Lifetime Learning / Wiley, 1983)
These works spanned multiple programming languages and were aimed at both students and practicing programmers during a formative era in personal and professional computing.
Legacy
George Ledin died in 2022. His career spanned several decades of computing history, from the early days of academic computer science programs in the 1960s through the modern era of cybersecurity education. He remains a notable figure for his role in establishing computer science curricula at two universities and for his willingness to challenge prevailing assumptions about how security professionals should be trained.
