CSC News

Seven Alumni Inducted into the CSC Alumni Hall of Fame

The NC State Computer Science Alumni Hall of Fame officially inducted seven new members during a special ceremony held at the Park Alumni Center on Thursday, October 10^th.  More than 70 faculty, staff, award winners, their families and special guests were in attendance.

The CSC Alumni Hall of Fame was established in 2017 to celebrate and recognize the exemplary contributions our outstanding graduates have made to their profession, their community, and to the world at large.  With more than 9,600 CSC Alumni, only a select number will be chosen for recognition in our Alumni Hall of Fame making this a truly exceptional and noteworthy honor. 

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

The 2019 inductees into the NC State Computer Science Alumni Hall of Fame include:

• Michael DeHaan (BS ‘01) – Founder, Ansible ( profile)
• Sven-Thorsten Dietrich (BS ’94, MS ‘97) – Vice President, Office of Architecture, State Street Bank (profile)
• Steven Grobman (BS ‘94) – Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, McAfee (profile)
• John O’Neill (BS ‘96) – Founder, Spark Plug Games (profile)
• Chris Olinger (BS ‘89) – Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, d-Wise (profile)
• Susan Rodger (BS ‘83) – Professor of the Practice in the Computer Science Department, Duke University (profile)
• Nicki Washington (MS ’02, PhD ‘05) – Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science, Winthrop University (profile)

In addition, the department recognized one Outstanding Young Alumnus, a CSC graduate who has graduated within the past 10 years:

• Bradley Herrin (BS ‘11) – Senior Software Engineer and Master Innovator, IBM (audio)

CSC Department head, Dr. Gregg Rothermel, was on hand to congratulate and take pictures with the honorees during the special ceremony in the Park Alumni Center’s Grand Ballroom.  Rothermel said, “This truly is an outstanding group of alumni who have represented NC State Computer Science well!  This impressive group serves as an inspiration for us all – faculty, staff and students.”

Ken Tate, director of engagement & external relations, says “This is a most impressive class of inductees, a group of innovators with over 100 US and International patents, of authors who have left their mark on this world through the published word, of entrepreneurs with multiple start-ups, of researchers with a focus on diversity in STEM, and of trend-setters who have developed technology and standards that are used by the masses. In some way, shape or form, every one of our inductees have done things that have positively impacted the world we live in.”

But Tate adds, “With more than 9,600 alumni scattered all over the globe, we don’t know about everyone’s accomplishments!”

To nominate someone for future consideration, please visit the CSC Alumni Hall of Fame page. (https://www.csc.ncsu.edu/alumni/hall-of-fame.php).

~coates~