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Computing & Information Systems Department

 

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Br. David Carlson, O.S.B.

Associate Professor of Computing and Information Systems


Br. David Carlson

General Information

Office: Dupre W217

Phone: (724) 805-2416

Email: david.carlson@stvincent.edu


Br. David got started in the computer science world (especially software development and computer architecture) by wiring together the dining room chairs as a young child. Early on in high school he wanted to continue this by becoming an electrical engineer. However, an outstanding high school math teacher got him interested in both math and teaching, with the result that he completed a B.S. and an M.A. in mathematics. A few computer science courses got taken along with the math, so the wiring together of things was not completely forgotten.

After entering the monastery, Br. David learned that a monk at Saint Vincent cannot just pray all day, there had to be both work and prayer. Since the college had a need for faculty to teach in the relatively new field of computer science, he agreed to head back to graduate school for another degree, an M.S. in computer science.

After returning to Saint Vincent with the new degree in hand, Br. David began his full-time teaching the same year that the CIS major began at the college. Since then he has taught in the areas of computer science, computer and network security, IT, mathematics, artificial intelligence, operating systems, and cryptography. He also served as department chairperson for a total of about 20 years. He especially enjoys building a working product, often software, that others can use – still wiring things together in a sense! Br. David likes working in a Linux environment, and has interests in search engines, web applications, how computer exploits work, and many other specific topics in computing. His favorite hobbies are bicycling and playing piano and saxophone. He enjoys reading good literature, theology, history, and spirituality.


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