Attendee: David Preston

I started my career as a high-school teacher. After 3 years and earning an MS in Mathematics from Ohio University, I quit my teaching job and came to UMCP to pursue a Ph. D. in math education in 1972. I completed the Ph. D. in 1978 and worked in education administration until 1982.

I started pre-requisite classes for the MS program in computer science in spring 1981 and entered the MS program full time in fall 1982. In 1984, I completed the MS degree and went to work at IIT Research Institute, where I remained until 2003. During those years, I was adjunct faculty in the Department of Computer Science, UMCP.

In 2003, I took a faculty position at Fayetteville State University in the University of North Carolina system. I was promoted to full professor there in 2007 and retired from that position in 2009.

My wife and I wanted to return to Baltimore, and I was not ready to fully retire, so I took a high-school teaching position in Baltimore County. This is my fifth year teaching math and my third as adviser to the National Honor Society chapter.