My Advisor, Professionally Speaking

Last week I introduced you to my advsior, Jack Carroll, and this week I will continue by focusing on his professional life.

Jack has a Ph.D. from Columbia University in psychology. After earning his doctorate, he worked at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center (pictured here) for many years. In 1994, Jack moved from industry to academia, accepting a position as Department Head of Virginia Tech's Computer Science department. Nine years later, he joined the faculty in IST, where he is the Edward M. Frymoyer Chair Professor, and the Director of Penn State's Center for Human-Computer Interaction.

A seasoned researcher, Jack has published thirteen books, hundreds of technical papers, dozens of miscellaneous reports. His work is mainly published in HCI-related venues, such as ACM's CHI conference, the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Human-Computer Interaction, and Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction.

Jack's primary teaching duty at Penn State is the IST 522 course, which surveys theories and frameworks in human-computer interaction. This course, which is offered each fall, is among the core requirements for IST graduate students. Last spring, Jack taught a section of IST 402, a special topics course for undergraduates. He focused the course on community informatics, a research interest that he and I share.

Obviously, Jack is a highly prolific researcher and his professional experience makes him very well-equipped to advise students. I am grateful for his willingness to share his knowledge, experience, and expertise.