Scholarships 2017 Wow! The 2017 Scholarship Drive raised over $15,500, thanks to your generosity. The perpetual endowments set up by members in the names of the companies that were important in their careers – currently, Systematics/AIS/FIS, Acxiom and Arkansas Systems/Euronet – contribute another $3,000 annually for scholarships. With an additional $3,000 from the Academy’s general
Dear Academy Member, We had a fantastic Annual Meeting in Fayetteville Oct 28th and 29th and owe many thanks to the University of Arkansas CSCE Department for the planning and execution, and to outgoing AAoC President Gary Dowdy for his hard work, not only at this event but for the past 2 years. We
The Arkansas Academy of Computing is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2016-2017 scholarship awards. University of Arkansas at Little Rock Chen Xu Chen Xu is originally from China and graduated from Qingdao Agricultural University in July 2014, with a bachelor’s degree in Financial Management. In his Computerized Financial Management course, Chen learned how to apply
The number of information technology (IT) workers now stands at 4.6 million, compared with just 450,000 in 1970 according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The upsurge means IT workers now represent 2.9% of the U.S. labor force. “The Census Bureau first identified IT occupations in the 1970 Census,”
In this update: * Save the date, AAoC Annual Banquet and Meeting is 10/28 & 10/29 in Fayetteville * Nominations for new members ends 7/31 * FIS Accelerator – Academy members help drive entrepreneurship and business growth in our state * Dues – A list of who has paid for 2016 SAVE THE
Dear Academy Member, In this update: Save the date, 2016 Annual Banquet and Business Meeting Membership dues Call for membership nominations Update on Computer Science Initiative Open AAoC positions (we need a few volunteers) Save the Date The 2016 Academy Annual Banquet and Business Meeting is tentatively set for October 28 and 29. This
22 Feb 16 President Barack Obama’s administration and global high-tech giants want every state to follow Arkansas’ lead and begin offering computer science courses at all of the nation’s public high schools. At a news conference Sunday, officials from the White House, Microsoft and Google joined Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee
January 30, 2016 Today, President Obama is unveiling his plan to give all students across the country the chance to learn computer science (CS) in school. We’ve made real progress in education — over the past seven years, 49 States and Washington, D.C. have raised expectations by adopting higher standards to prepare all students for success in
President’s Letter – December 31, 2015 Dear Academy Member, In this update, I would like to share the successes we have had this year as an organization making a difference in computing for the State of Arkansas. Scholarships If you have not already made your contribution to our general scholarship fund or to your public
Greg Schaffer is CEO and Founder of First72 Cyber, a cyber security firm created to help enterprises prepare for, respond to and manage the risk of cyber events, with a special focus on the rapidly emerging area of third-party risk. He is responsible for all aspects of the enterprise’s development and execution including product development,
Jeannine Winston is a graduate of Leadership Greater Little Rock and Leadership Arkansas. She served as the program chair for the Inaugural Central Arkansas Women’s Conference sponsored by the Arkansas State Chamber. As a licensed attorney, she holds memberships in several professional legal organizations, including the Arkansas Bar Association, the Cleburne County Bar Association, and Arkansas Women’s Lawyer’s Association. She donates
Michelle Talley has been a professional software developer for 25 years. She is currently a Senior Software Developer at Acxiom Corporation. Michelle has a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a M.S. in Applied Computing from the University of Central Arkansas. She has held various IT job roles from project manager to client
Todd Steward has corporate responsibilities for Mercy Health System as the Chief Clinical Information Officer. Mercy is one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in the nation and services Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. Via Todd’s continued contributions in Mercy, he has been promoted to the highest technical position in Mercy specifically reserved for physicians. Todd provides oversight of Mercy’s
Gary W. Speas, P.E., is president of SpeasTech, the company he founded in 1978. Mr. Speas earned a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering from Clemson University. He has 15 patents, many of which are related to SpeasTech products. Mr. Speas does design and programming of microprocessor and PC based system. He also does hardware product design which includes schematic
After earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering in 1990, Joseph Roblee began a successful career. He created several companies and developed critical software applications that streamline workflow processes for many types of companies. Joe is currently a senior executive with over 25 years of experience in information technology, information security, business continuity planning,
Kym Patterson was Arkansas’ Chief Security Officer from 2004 to 2013, she oversaw the State Security Office where she developed cyber security standards and policies applicable to state agencies and higher education. She provided IT security‐related education and outreach to the public sector including the K12 and higher education communities. Kym now works at FIS in Little Rock for FIS’
Lynn Moore is the CEO of Motio, Inc., which he co‐founded in 1999. Motio (formerly Focus Technologies) is a software development company providing solutions that improve the accuracy, performance, and user experience of Business Intelligence software platforms. In his role as CEO, Moore drives the overall strategic vision of Motio while overseeing all facets of company operation. In 2003,
Louise Miller is originally a Chemical Engineer and has a long career as an industrial psychologist. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Arkansas and both MS and PhD degrees in Psychology from Memphis State University. She was the SVP of Human Resources for Systematics in the 1980’s which included both traditional HR and a
John James is a family practice physician who, on the last day of his residency, gave up medicine for the adventure of innovation. John paid for medical school with proceeds from his first ecommerce company, a quiz bowl question business he founded from the comfort of his dorm room at the University of Arkansas in 1995. A serial entrepreneur
Michael Elmore is a senior business leader and IT executive with extensive experience growing enterprise value and transforming organizations and operations through technology enabled business innovation. His 25+ year career spans the retail and wholesale industry, broad areas of general business, and all major disciplines within the business of information technology. He has held the Chief Information Officer position