Explain your career path

B.S. Secondary Education, taught 4 years high school science and coached football and track; 1 year Mizzou (Molecular Genetics Ph.D. program); Inside Sales at Fisher Scientific Company while working on an M.S. MIS at UMSL (1988); Computer Programmer/Analyst (Consulting) for various firms until early retirement 01/01/2017. Companies Included McDonnell-Douglas Health Information Systems, McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft Information Systems, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri, Purina Mills, National General Insurance Company, GMAC Insurance, Wells Fargo Advisors, and Edward Jones, all located in St. Louis, Missouri.

What was your major at Southeast and how would you characterize the quality of that program to prospective students?

Biology - I wanted to teach high school and coach sports. I was advised that History and English majors were a "glut" on the market and I enjoyed my Into to Biology class.

Why did you choose to attend Southeast?

Southeast was one of 4-year schools in Missouri (along with School of the Ozarks) that I felt I could afford and it was well-known for it's programs in Education at the time. It was also relatively close to home yet conveniently distant to give me a comfortable separation.

Who influenced you most during your time at Southeast?

Dr. Norman Braasch, my Intro to Biology professor and subsequent professor for two graduate biology classes and Tom Thrower, Head Football Coach.

Share your best college memory.

There are so many but I fondly remember working with my dorm mates to decorate the Apache floor of Myers Hall for Christmas (on the creative cheap) It was a great group effort, a lot of fun, and it turned out pretty well!

If you were in Greek Life, the Honors Program or any other student organization, please tell us about that experience and how it impacted you.

Wrote a complete subsystem to convert a legacy, COBOL-based hospital system to a turn-key system written in FORTH.

What is the most important thing you learned while you were at Southeast?

That it is possible to find common ground, and learn from, people with widely diverse backgrounds and ideas and that everyone does better when working together.

Describe Southeast in three words.

Transformative, Affordable, Comfortable

What advice would you give current students or recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in your professional field?

Embrace the concept of life-long learning. Rapid change, especially in technology fields, is the new normal so expect to have to continually improve your skill set. However, one thing that will never change is the need in any endeavor to be able to effectively communicate and collaborate with others and the need to do so with people with very different backgrounds, world-views, and agendas. People skills never become obsolete.