Geoffrey Decker

What year did you start working at NIU?
2001

Where is your hometown? and where do you live now?
My hometown is Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and I now live in Cortland, Illinois.

Where did you attend college and what degree(s) have you earned?
The University of Kansas, B.A. in music, 1986, and Northern Illinois University, M.S. in computer science, 1990.

Were you a first-generation college student? If so, what advice would you offer to current first generation students?
Yes. Take advantage of every opportunity the university presents to you. Open your mind and learn about everything as much as you can while earning your degree.

What do you like about working at NIU?
The opportunity to work with and mentor enthusiastic young people and teach them what I love to teach, mainframe computing.

What advice would you give to students currently attending NIU?
Take your studies seriously. We are often given only one chance to succeed at the university. Go to class and absorb, absorb and absorb.

Tell us about a research or engaged learning project you have led.
I am a member of the governing board of the Open Mainframe Project of the Linux Foundation. I also lead IBM Z Career Connection events at NIU.

What do you enjoy most about mentoring students?
I enjoy students’ enthusiasm and willingness to learn something they've never been exposed to before, mainframe computing.

What do you hope students take away from their college experience?
I hope they take away solid mainframe knowledge and respect for the platform along with a mixture of ingenuity, integrity and very strong analytical skills.

What is your favorite memory of NIU?
Attending SHARE conferences and IBM TechXchange with my students.

What’s one thing about NIU that’s surprised you?
How long the Department of Computer Science has supported the mainframe curriculum while many other schools discontinued teaching mainframe. NIU is now respected worldwide, and other schools around the country—and the world—are beginning to reconstitute their mainframe curricula and model them after NIU's.

What fulfills you personally and professionally?
Personally, I am fulfilled by my studies of history and music. I am fulfilled professionally by seeing my students begin their careers and succeed. I also enjoy seeing them make an impact in their professions.

Which of NIU’s core values align with your own?
All of NIU's core values align with those I was taught since a child, but curiosity and creativity are the most important, especially that, as faculty, we commit our resources to supporting students in their professional development.

Have you contributed to any NIU Foundation fundraising campaigns such as the Day of Giving or Huskies United? If yes, why did you decided to support NIU?
Yes, I contribute on the Day of Giving. I love NIU, what it means to me, and what it has done and continues to do for my students.

Do you keep in touch with any NIU alums? If so, are there any doing something interesting and exciting that we should know about? Please share some information with us and we’ll consider them for a future feature. 
Yes. There are two former students in particular with whom I've developed strong relationships: Jamieson Walker and Mike Orsay. Both are hugely successful in their careers and have helped NIU students obtain opportunities of employment and internships.

Who has influenced your professional path?
Dr. Rodney Angotti, the late former NIU Department of Computer Science chair, and Dr. Robert Rannie, the late NIU Professor Emeritus in computer science. Both were very supportive and inspiring. Their memories continue to inspire me.

What did you want to be when you were growing up? Are you currently doing it? If not, what changed your path?
I wanted to be a great conductor and studied music for my undergraduate degree. I soon realized that I needed a career, and because of a very respected friend of a friend, computer programming seemed to be a reasonable path to that successful career.

Are you a member of or hold a position within a professional or community organization? If so, what organization? What is the purpose of that organization and how does being part of this organization benefit you in your role at NIU?
I am a member of the oldest IBM user group, SHARE, and serve as the NIU representative to that group. I also serve as a member of the governing board of the Open Mainframe Project of the Linux Foundation. Both offer learning and career opportunities to our NIU mainframe students.

What community organizations are you involved in?
I play French horn in both the DeKalb Municipal Band and the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

What do you do to relax or recharge?
I collect and listen to classical music of all types and opera in recordings. I have season tickets to attend concerts and performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Music of the Baroque Chicago and Haymarket Opera Company. I read a lot of history and biography, and I play horn in the DeKalb Municipal Band and the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.