President’s Letter
January, 2019

The Academy of Computing had a very successful Induction Banquet at the
Fayetteville Country Club on November 2, 2018 and Business Meeting at
University of Arkansas on November 3 of 2018.

Our 2017-2018 President John Chamberlin was our Emcee for the night and
our distinguished guest speaker, Jeff Amerine, Founding Principal of Startup
Junkie, gave us a great overview of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Arkansas,
highlighting many successes across the state, many from among our very own
membership! We inducted 9 new members representing a broad spectrum of
experiences. You can read all about them on the web site.

At the annual meeting over breakfast the next day, John Chamberlin provided
a financial report from the Academy and gave an update on scholarships and
outreach activities, highlighting campus visits and various efforts of AAOC and
other statewide organizations that focus on education and careers. John and
other AAOC members helped connect the dots this past year through those
efforts. We will need to continue to expand those relationships moving forward.

Election of the Executive Committee Membership followed. 6 new members
were elected to replace those whose terms had expired. The entire Executive
Committee team is now comprised of the following:

Susan Norton, President
John Chamberlin, Past President
David Douglas
Kathy Loyd
Rex Eads
Andy Mayes
Carl Frank
Charlie McMurtry
Karen Halbert
Kym Patterson
Eugene Jones

Ex Officio Past Presidents
Gary Dowdy
Collins Andrews
George Knight
Dan Phillips

With nearly 50 participants in attendance, we heard some very exciting
presentations from the Arkansas Tech Scene as follows:

Arkansas Center for Data Science by Bill Yoder
UA Fayetteville Data Science Degree by Karl Shubert
Blockchain Center of Excellence by David Douglas and Paul Cronan
Developing a Startup’s Culture by Michael Paladino

We also received reports from our partners: Dr. Frank Liu, Chair of the UA
CSCE Department, Dr. Susan Bristow, UA ISYS Department, and Dr. Lawrence
Whitman, UA Little Rock EIT Dean.

Overall, it was a very well attended and informative weekend. We continue to
grow and celebrate our new members and explore new initiatives,
relationships, and partnerships with you and your networks.

Our last effort in 2018 and continuing now into 2019 is our scholarship drive.
We kicked off the drive just after the annual meeting and will keep it open until
April 1. Last year, we gave $23,500 in 47 separate scholarships across the
state. We have a lot of work to do to match that effort this year. So, please, if
you have not yet sent in your contribution, please do so now and help us reach
our new goal of $25,000!

Our Executive Committee will meet monthly and I will do my best to provide
updates to the entire membership through quarterly President’s letters.
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any ideas!

Thank you for your continued help in “making a difference in computing and
information technology” for our state through working with the Arkansas
Academy of Computing!

Sincerely,
Susan Norton
President, 2018-2020