Computers and high-speed communication networks are transforming our world. These technologies have brought us many benefits, but they have also raised many social and ethical concerns. As the world turns, we ought to approach every new technology in a thoughtful manner, considering not just its short-term benefits, but also how its long term use will affect our lives. A thoughtful response to information technology requires a basic understanding of its history, an awareness of current information-technology- related issues, and a familiarity with ethics.
Biography: Dr. Sheldon has 29+ years in the fields of software engineering (SE) and computer science (CS) engaged as a practitioner, principal investigator, research scientist, business developer and conference chair. He is currently professor and chair of CS at the University of Idaho, and holds a visiting professorship at the Int'l School of Software, Wuhan University, China. He's held faculty appointments (U. Colorado CS, Wash. State U., U. Memphis) and R&D positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and three fortune 100 companies (LMCO, GD and Raytheon/TI) including a National Academies NRC postdoc at NASA Langley, and Visiting Scholar at NASA Ames and Stanford U. He's published 130+ articles, 12 editorships and 5 US Patents. He's chaired, facilitated and participated in National R&D venues including invited speaker, panelist and moderator. His research interests are currently focused on cyber and information security. He enjoys teaching Senior and Graduate level topics. He received PhD/MS in CS from the U. of Texas at Arlington in 1996/89. He holds two BS degrees in CS and Microbiology from the U. of Minnesota.