> One of the biggest boost to my SWE career was studying theory of computation and programming languages theory.

I totally agree with you.

> My major was electronic engineering, so I didn't touch those at the university.

Unfortunately, ever more computer science graduates lack the same belief, even if they go to "top" university programs.

Of course, I think part of the problem is the way the material is presented; "learn this to pass the exam" without fundamental motivation is pretty much always a bad set-up to get students interested. But, speaking anecdotally, a large part also seems to be a semi-recent surge of undergraduate students who genuinely believe that their academic career is nothing more than a hurdle to be muddled through in service of getting a piece of paper that lets them get a high-paying, low-labor-intensity job. They just don't engage with theory-focused material beyond what's strictly necessary to graduate, and then they dump the thoughts from their minds the second the semester is over.

This manifests in all sorts of ways, but a common one is undergrads telling one another how little their professors know about the "real world" because they use (not even that) outdated technology in their lectures. Or maybe the profs use some less popular language and the students think of it as a waste of time. There's comparatively little self-motivation among modern CS students, where historically I think there was rather a lot.

I suppose I'm not really going anywhere specific with this other than complaining, so maybe I can ask: What do you think it was that helped you realize that learning fundamental theory would be beneficial? (I don't have any indication that you were the same kind of student as these that I mention, since you were in a different major altogether, but I'm always looking for insights to help motivate students to study theory more, and insights can come from anywhere.)