CSC News

October 17, 2017

Department Launches Alumni Hall of Fame

As part of the department’s 50th Year celebrations, the Computer Science Alumni Hall of Fame was officially launched during a special ceremony held at the Park Alumni Center on Thursday, October 12th.  The event was attended by more than 120 faculty, staff, award winners and their family and special guests.

 

The CSC Alumni Hall of Fame was established to celebrate and recognize the exemplary contributions our outstanding graduates have made to their profession, their community, and to the world at large.

 

Award winners were presented a specially designed award to take home and they will be featured on a permanent display wall on the 3rd floor of EB2, near the department’s main office. The wall features an interactive component that is also accessible online (http://ncsucsc.touchpros.com/SearchBy.aspx).

 

The 2017 CSC Alumni HOF inaugural class consisted of 25 highly accomplished alumni inductees, including:


  • Alen D. Baker (BS ‘73) - Retired Duke Energy Executive; President Emeritus, NC Wildlife Federation (audio)
  • Marshall Brain II (MS ‘89) - Author, TV Personality, Founder of HowStuffWorks Franchise, 2011 NC State Distinguished Engineering Alumnus (audio)
  • David Burke (BS ‘04) - Director of CyberWarfare for Naval Aviation (audio)
  • Keith Collins (BS ’82) - EVP & CIO, SAS Institute; 2003 NC State Distinguished Engineering Alumnus (audio)
  • Jeff Crume (BS ‘84) – Author & Security Expert, Distinguished Engineer & Executive IT Security Architect, IBM (audio)
  • Chris Crump (BS ‘78) - Retired Silicon Valley Executive (audio)
  • Brenda Crutchfield (MS ‘89) - Deputy Director of Future Operations, US Army Cyber Command (audio)
  • Nirmit Desai (MS ‘03, PhD ‘08) - Research Staff Member, IBM and creator of Mesh Network Alerts (audio)
  • Suzanne Gordon (BS ‘75) - Retired SAS Institute Executive, former member of NC State Board of Trustees (audio)
  • Larry Hodges (MS ‘82, PhD ‘88) - Virtual Reality Expert and Professor of Human-Centered Computing, Clemson University (audio)
  • Richard Holcomb (MS ‘89) - Serial Entrepreneur (audio)
  • Bobby R Johnson Jr. (BS ‘77) - Co-founder and Former CEO, Foundry Networks, 2008 NC State Distinguished Engineering Alumnus (audio)
  • Martin Loy (BS ‘87) - Senior Director, Security Trust Engineering, Cisco Systems (audio)
  • Elizabeth Mynatt (BS ‘88) - Expert in Ubiquitous Computing, Human-Computer Interaction, and Assistive Technologies, Distinguished Professor; Executive Director, Georgia Tech Institute for People and Technology (audio)
  • Raif Onvural (MS ‘85, PhD ‘87) - President and CEO, Telehealth & Telemedicine, Inc. (audio)
  • Gerhard Pilcher (BS ‘85, MSA ‘11) - President and CEO, Elder Research (audio)
  • Rudy Puryear (BS ‘74) - Partner and Director, Bain & Company IT practice (audio)
  • Troy Tolle (BS ‘98, MS ‘00) - Co-founder and CTO, DigitalChalk, Inc. (audio)
  • Erik Troan (BS ‘89) - Serial Entrepreneur (audio)
  • Donna Troy (BS ‘78) - Retired EVP and General Manager, Epicor Software (audio)
  • Bill Weiss (BS ‘76) - Chairman and CEO, The Promar Group (audio)
  • Ed Whitehorne (BS ‘72) - Chairman of the Board, FHI 360 (audio)
  • Josh Whiton (BS ‘04) - Founder and Former CEO, TransLoc, Inc. (audio)
  • Gary Williams (BS ‘74) - Former Milliken & Company Executive (audio)
  • Pinar Yolum (MS ‘00, PhD ‘03), Entrepreneur & Professor, Bogazici University (audio)

 

In addition, the department recognized six Outstanding Young Alumni including:


  • Bushra Anjum (PhD ‘12) – International Academician, Author, Technical Lead & Software Development Engineer, Amazon (audio)
  • Sina Bahram (BS ’07, MS ‘10) – Presidential ‘Champion of Change’ Honoree; President, Prime Access Consulting, Inc. (audio)
  • Khalia Braswell (BS ’13) – User Experience Engineer, Apple, Inc.; Founder & Executive Director, INTech Foundation, Inc. (audio)
  • KaMar Galloway (BS ’13) – Program Manager, ‘CS First’ Program, Google, Inc. (audio)
  • Sarah Heckman (BS ’04, MS ’05, PhD ‘09) – Teaching Associate Professor and Assistant Director of Undergraduate Programs, NC State University (audio)
  • Vidya Srinivasan (MS ‘11) – Program Manager, SharePoint & Office 365, Microsoft, Inc. (audio)


Dr. Laurie Williams, interim department head, says “This is an exceptional group of individuals who have all, in some way or another, impacted our lives in a very positive way.”  She adds, “By recognizing our most distinguished alumni, we hope they will serve as an inspiration for current and future students.”

 

Ken Tate, director of engagement & external relations, says the inaugural class is very special. “We had about 50 nominations and they were all outstanding candidates, but the 25 inaugural inductees were all unanimous selections by the selection committee.  They represent the very best of the best,” says Tate.  But he adds, “With more than 9,000 alumni scattered all over the globe, we don’t know about everyone’s accomplishments!”


The auspicious occasion was made possible thanks to the generous support of sponsors, SAS, Dude Solutions, the ePartners Program and the NC State Engineering Foundation.


Photos of the event can be found here.

 

To nominate someone for future consideration, please visit the CSC Alumni Hall of Fame page.

 

~tate~

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