EDSIG

David Feinstein has been around computing for many years – not as old as the hills but almost. His computing career began as a graduate student at Stanford in 1963 when his advisor told him he better learn something about computers. After a “B” in an ALGOL programming class he was bitten by the bug! His dissertation research turned out to be an agony of computational science, although the tem had not been invented yet. After four years of doing the same kinds of things at a laboratory in Buffalo, New York, he decided to make the big move into academia at a small state school in Wisconsin. Thus he started a four decade career.

In Wisconsin David started one of the early computer science programs, chaired the CS program, became director of the academic computing center and developed a service network from his center covering all the public agencies such as school districts in the northern third of Wisconsin. Then he moved south.

In 1980 David got a call from the new University of South Alabama. They wanted him to start a computer science program in Mobile. He said are you kidding! Never been to Alabama and never plan to! Then they offered him MONEY. He accepted.

Now the real fun began. No one was doing computer science or information systems or computer engineering so, along with his new friend Bart, they did. The new academic unit grew to almost 1000 students in three years.

Well in about 1988 Bart and David decide to go to something called ISECON. So what did they do after that? They were the primary authors of IS’90. Things really began to pop. At another ISECON the conference almost died. A few guys and girls decided this should not be so. So they resuscitated it. David chaired the next two meetings. Then David became Vice President of EDSIG and then President. Along the way Bart and David helped give birth to a few more curriculum models. David helped create accreditation for information systems, became dean, started a whole new family, and travelled around the world to talk about all this stuff.