Cynthia A. Brown

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Brown received her Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1977. She was on the faculty of the Computer Science Department at Indiana University until 1982, and a member of the technical staff at GTE laboratories in Waltham, MA from 1982 until 1984. She joined the faculty of the College of Computer Science at Northeastern University in 1984, serving as Dean of the College from 1989 until 1993. During this period her professional interests included analysis of algorithms, particularly those involved in backtrack searching, and compiler front end design. In 1993 she moved to Portland, OR, where she worked on computerized commodities trading systems and wrote a newsletter about financial futures. She joined the faculty of Portland State University as Associate Chair of the Computer Science department in 1997, and was appointed department chair starting July 1, 1998.

Classes

In Spring 2007 I am teaching CS 106, Computing Fundamentals II. For more information, see the CS 106 web page.

Recent Activities and Interests

Department Initiatives

Faculty Expansion

In Fall of 2004, ten faculty members joined our department from the Oregon Graduate Institute, which was moving away from core computer science to specialize in medical and environmental applications, following its merger with OHSU. An eleventh person joined in 2005Fall 2005. See the department webpage Computer Science Department and individual faculty pages for more information.

Reaccreditation

The department was visited by ABET in Fall of 2005. This was our regular reaccreditation visit. We will learn the final result in Summer 2006. The University as a whole was also visited for its 10-year reaccreditation at the same time.

University Studies Review

Starting in April 2005, I chaired the committee that reviewed the University's general education program, called University Studies. A copy of our report, and other information about the review, can be found at the committee's website, UNST Review Website. Our committee made its final report to the Faculty Senate in April 2006.

Outreach to High School Students: Get Real

I'm part of an OUS task force, led by Bruce Schafer, that is developing strategies to help attract more students to major in CS. The program is called "Get Real", and has a Get Real website and other materials available through the site. It's a very nice resource for potential CS majors and their parents.

Financial Futures Software

I do software development and consulting for Robin Mesch Associates, a company that provides training and software support for commodity traders, particularly in the area of financial futures.

Yoga

I have studied yoga for many years at the Nityananda Institute.

Contact Information

Voice phone: 503.725.8251
To schedule an appointment: 503.725.4036
Fax: 503.725.3211
Email: cbrown at cs.pdx.edu
Mail address: Portland State University, CMPS, PO Box 751, Portland, OR 97207
Office location: 310-16 FAB, 1900 SW 4th Ave., Portland, OR 97201

Directions: We are at the south end of 4th avenue. My office is in the "tower" portion of the Fourth Avenue Building, and is reached using the elevator or stairs near the front of the building. It can be hard to find, so if in doubt ask the guard at the desk in front of the city offices for directions.