Eileen Wrigley, C.D.P.
Professor, Computer Information Technology
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Eileen Wrigley, C.D.P. Professor, Computer Information Technology |
I have been in the computer field since I was in high school. At that time, computers were somewhat bulky, ugly, and very difficult to program and use. Luckily, I received a full scholarship to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where I majored in Mathematics and Economics. While at Pitt, I took every computer course they offered but computers were relatively new and the choices were slim. In my senior year, I took a job teaching computer programming at Business Technical Institute. It was there that I discovered my love for teaching. After graduating with my B.S. in Mathematics, I became a systems analyst/programmer for Robert Morris College. Although I loved programming and designing computer systems, I found that I enjoyed helping students and teaching part-time. I decided to complete my Masters degree and then was hired immediately by Robert Morris College as a full-time professor of computer science. Soon after, I started teaching part-time for the University of Pittsburgh and Community College of Allegheny - South Campus. At one point, I was teaching at the university level, 4-year college level, and community college level. I discovered that I was given the most freedom and the richest rewards at the community college level. So, I accepted a full-time position at Community College of Allegheny County - South Campus, where I have stayed for over 30 years (I have the gold watch to prove it. :))) )!!
When, I first came to CCAC - South Campus, I was full of energy. I served on various campus committees, became department chairperson, served as coordinator of the computer center, wrote over $200,000 in grants, reviewed over 50 books, and wrote 5 books for Wm. C. Brown Publishers and Prentice-Hall. I tried to attend every conference I could.... especially, the COMDEX conference in Las Vegas. At one point to keep abreast of the business world, I even took a sabbatical leave to go to work for Duquesne Light Electric Company. At DQE, I taught employees COBOL programming, word processing, spreadsheets, and databases. Although I loved teaching at DQE, I found that I loved teaching at CCAC more and returned to CCAC the following year.
After
many years, I have stopped serving on committees and stopped writing grants,
but my passion for teaching and writing books has not diminished.
When the Internet was in its infant stages, I immediately began utilizing
it as much as possible. For the past 10 years, I have moved all my
classes over to the Internet and continue to expand those courses and the
offerings as much as I can. I developed my own text on CD for my
Java classes and tried to keep the price reasonable at about $16.
In addition, I have worked hard to become certified in everything that
I currently teach.
I have
been in the computer world for 40 years and I have watched computers evolve
from huge awkward machines to tiny sophisticated exciting technology.
It has been a lot of work keeping up...but I have enjoyed the trip!
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