Computers are an integral part of the world today, a great resource that can sometimes be taken for granted. They run cars, cell phones and cameras -- and many people own laptops the size of a textbook. In the 1960s and 1970s, however, computers took up entire rooms, weighed thousands of pounds and were only available to those who could afford to pay large amounts of money.
Lamar University’s Department of Computer science has excelled over the years, despite the ever-evolving nature of the industry. It has offered thousands of students a state-of-the-art education and practical experience in the field.
Alumni will celebrate the department at the first-ever Computer Science Alumni Reunion Feb. 23. The all-day event will feature breakfast, a campus tour, reception and dinner. All computer science alumni are being invited to attend.
In addition to the opportunity to see how the department has expanded over the years, reunion attendees will recall and share memories from the department.
Tim Magnuson, Lamar alumnus and president of Kashmoo Inc. in Lindale, near Austin, began attending the Lamar School of Engineering and Technology in the spring of 1975. Although Lamar offered computer science courses at that time, they were based in the industrial engineering department.
“I came to Lamar with my sights set on a computer-science degree. I had been offered a job straight out of high school working for the FBI, but, after six months, I realized that without a degree, I would be stuck in a dead-end data processing job for the rest of my life. Lamar was affordable and offered quality education, so I began taking computer science courses,” said Magnuson.
He and other members of the Association for Computing Machinery knew that a few courses were not enough; they wanted a degree program to be developed in computer science. A group of seven students met with then-Lamar President John Gray. The meeting led to the hiring of Bill Nylin who began as an associate professor of computer science in the mathematics department. Lots of hard work and two years later, Nylin became the director of the newly created computer science program.
Nylin went on to serve as an administrator, executive vice president for finance and operations, vice chancellor for finance for the Lamar University System and deputy chancellor. After 20 years of service, Nylin left Lamar to join Conn’s Appliances Inc., where he is president and chief operating officer.
“Nylin was an enthusiastic and exciting teacher who introduced new courses, and restructured the entire program so that students at Lamar could stand toe-to-toe with those at any college in the country,” said Magnuson.
According to Susan Mayfield of San Antonio, chair of the reunion, Nylin was the person responsible for developing the department. He put together the curriculum and required every student to build a computer, rather than simply being trained to use the applications.
In the late 1970s, Nylin established a co-op program that allowed students to work one semester and go to class the next. Through this system, graduates had one to two years of practical experience in the field. Seniors also were required to complete a computer program.
“Everyone knew who they were because of the big boxes they carried around. Back then, we had to keypunch the cards for all our projects. Seniors were over-sensitive about being bumped in the halls because they wanted to keep their programming cards in order,“ Mayfield recalled.
Seven individuals graduated in 1979 as the first class to earn degrees in computer science from Lamar University. Since that time, the department has grown. Computer labs and offices have been established and the number of graduates continues to increase.
The evolution of the industry has also served as a force behind the growth of the department. The 1980s created a high demand for analysts, and, therefore, almost all graduates had jobs lined up at graduation, according to Mayfield said.
As a woman in the male-dominated industry, Mayfield had to prove herself. She knew her education at Lamar was just as good as that of anyone from Stanford and she knew she had to be strong. Many women went into the creative aspect of computer science because men ran the show when it came to coding, according to Mayfield.
“Men were not very trusting of us. We had our coding cards organized by color and created ‘pretty programs,’ which the men didn’t do. After five years of coding I switched to the creative side (as many women did), and I began working as a systems architect. I’ve been doing it ever since and still love my job,” said Mayfield.
Through all the growth and changes, the positive feedback from alumni about the Lamar’s computer science department has remained consistent.
“The education I earned at Lamar continues to serve me every day in my career. My years at Lamar were some of the best in my life, and I look back on them with fondness and a deep sense of gratitude,” said Magnuson.
Today, Lamar’s computer science department in housed in the College of Arts and Sciences and employs 13 teachers, from professors to adjunct lecturers. The department offers bachelor’s degrees in computer science and computer information systems, as well as a master’s degree in computer science. In December 2007, the department conferred 14 degrees, 12 of which were master’s degrees, in computer science.
For more information about the reunion, contact the Office of Alumni Affairs at (409) 880-8921 or visit www.lamar.edu/alumni.
