Red Hat Honors Instructors Who Champion Open Source Education in the U.S.

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, today recognized 21 higher education instructors for their continuing efforts to incorporate open source philosophies, methods, and tools into their academic work.

Red Hat is thrilled to recognize the professors who are teaching a new generation about the potential available in open source. By creating pathways for their students to work in open source projects, these instructors provide real-world experiences that help students build a technical portfolio. And because everything these instructors create is under an open source license, other instructors can benefit from the pathways they’re forging.

Open source has become a de facto standard for innovation across the technology industry. Aligned with this, and to help meet the need for computer science and software engineering graduates skilled in open source, a growing number of higher education institutions and instructors are working to bring open source skills and community engagement know-how into their classrooms.

Red Hat’s recognition is aimed at honoring the work of instructors coming from universities and colleges across the U.S. who are committed to teaching the open source development process to their students. The honorees are all past participants in Professor’s Open Source Software Experience (POSSE). POSSE is a Red Hat-sponsored cultural immersion in the tools and practices of open source communities, designed for professors looking for ways to bring their students into active participation in those communities. Launched by Red Hat in 2009 and made possible through National Science Foundation grants awarded to Western New England University, Drexel University, and Nassau Community College, these workshops are designed to give professors the skills and experience needed to involve their students in open source projects and are co-taught by members of the academic and open source communities.

The instructors who are honored have proven their commitment to teaching open source through: running a POSSE workshop; creating an open source program at their institution; contributing materials to the growing open source curriculum base; or speaking about teaching open source at conferences like the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and the SIGCSE (Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education) Technical Symposium.

The instructors leading the way in teaching open source are:

• Grant Braught, professor of computer science, Dickinson College

• Darci Burdge, professor of computer science, Nassau Community College

• Ruby ElKharboutly, assistant professor of software engineering, Quinnipiac University

• Heidi Ellis, professor of computer science and information technology, Western New England University

• Greg Hislop, professor and senior associate dean in the College of Computing and Informatics (CCI), Drexel University

• Stoney Jackson, chair and associate professor of computer science and information technology, Western New England University

• Stephen Jacobs, professor, School of Interactive Games and Media, faculty lead, FOSS@MAGIC (Center for Media, Arts, Games, Interaction and Creativity), Rochester Institute of Technology

• Matt Jadud, associate professor of computer science, Berea College

• Carlos Jensen, associate dean for undergraduate programs, college of engineering, associate professor, school of electrical engineering and computer science, Oregon State University

• Joanna Klukowska, clinical assistant professor of computer science, New York University

• Mukkai S. Krishnamoorthy , associate professor of computer science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

• Clif Kussmaul, associate professor of computer science, Muhlenberg College

• Lynn Lambert, associate professor of computer science, Christopher Newport University

• Emily Lovell, visiting instructor of computer science, Berea College

• Cam Macdonell, assistant professor of computer science, MacEwan University

• Becka Morgan, associate professor of computer science, Western Oregon University

• Chris Murphy, associate professor of practice, department of computer and information science, University of Pennsylvania

• Lori Postner, professor of computer science, Nassau Community College

• Monisha Pulimood, associate professor of computer science, The College of New Jersey

• Nanette Veilleux, professor of computer science, Simmons College

• Karl Wurst, professor of computer science, Worcester State University

The efforts of these instructors both to integrate open source into their classrooms and to grow a community of like-minded educators are making a difference in the lives of students and making the world a more open and collaborative place.

Supporting Quote

Tom Callaway, university outreach lead, Red Hat

"Red Hat is thrilled to recognize the professors who are teaching a new generation about the potential available in open source. By creating pathways for their students to work in open source projects, these instructors provide real-world experiences that help students build a technical portfolio. And because everything these instructors create is under an open source license, other instructors can benefit from the pathways they’re forging."  

Additional Resources

Learn more about POSSE

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