Who is this guy?

I retired in 2024 as a Distinguished Research Staff Member from IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center. I had been working there since 1984, mostly in Security & Privacy and networking.

Educational background

• Ph.D. Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY 1994
• M.S. Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 1984
• B.S. Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 1978

How did this teaching thing come about?

I’ve been teaching at the college level and in industry since 1986.

When I joined IBM Research in 1984 at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY, I was struck by the broad use of FORTRAN, PL/1, 370 assembly language, and a lot of APL there. I didn’t think they were bad languages … not at all, since I used them all myself. But being a firm believer in using the right language for the job, I was surprised to see only limited use of the C programming language there.

I had been working on operating systems in C and had found it to be quite useful in that area. So when I discussed this lack of C awareness with my VP, he said "if you feel that strongly about it, teach a class!" And, 3 months later in June 1986 I did just that. I ended up teaching several hundred IBM Researchers in New York, California, and Switzerland, and more over an IBM internal education network.

As I was finishing up my Ph.D. at Polytechnic University (now part of NYU), I began teaching as an adjunct there. I taught C++ Programming, Advanced C++ Programming, Java Programming, and Evolutionary Algorithms (my dissertation topic) over several years there.

Shortly after moving to Hanover, NH in 2008, I was delighted and honored to have the opportunity to teach in Dartmouth College's Computer Science department as an adjunct. The rest is, well, history.

Hobbies

Three sons, nerdy computer stuff, and amateur astronomer.