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R-MC was among the first independent liberal arts colleges to establish a computer science department.
Department Chair:
Chuck Leska, PhD
Phone: 804-752-3158
E-mail: cleska@rmc.edu
Computer Science
Information technology is transforming the future—and the present—in ever more significant ways. The computer science major at R-MC has a strong liberal arts approach, combining a focus on current skills and concepts with a thorough foundation in both theoretical and practical aspects of computer science.
Define your focus: Students may choose a major, double-major, or minor in computer science as part of their R-MC studies. The computer science curriculum encourages inquiry by providing opportunities for in-depth research, and all computer science majors complete a capstone project.
Learn through doing: Computer science majors find opportunities to apply their skills in practical settings. Tom Becker '06 served as a Web assistant in R-MC's marketing and communications office. Adam Traub '10, now a software engineer, provided computer tutoring to fellow R-MC students and also completed an internship with Genworth Financial. R-MC computer science students have participated as well in a service-learning project working with school children in Haiti. And through a Schapiro Undregraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), R-MC computer science major Mark Lotts '12 teamed with professor John Rabung in the summer of 2010 to research van der Waerden numbers.
Careers in computer science: With IT expertise in high demand, R-MC computer science alumni are building careers in a wide range of fields. R-MC graduate Ying Shapiro served as IT director for catering at the 2008 Olympics with the food-services company Aramark. Bennett Malbon earned an MBA from Babson College's Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business and now provides IT expertise in the health care industry. Andrew Miner is an assistant professor at Iowa State University and recently was awarded an Early CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation to study complex systems.
| "I am really fortunate that Randolph-Macon provides such good opportunities for students."
Mark Lotts '12 was a mathematics and computer science major whose research was published twice. In summer 2011, he participated in a mathematics National Science Foundation-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 2012, Lotts participated in R-MC's Schapiro Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. He worked with Computer Science Professor John Rabung with the goal of improving lower bounds for van der Waerden numbers. Lotts worked as a calculus and computer science tutor at the Higgins Academic Center, and as a writing tutor at the Writing Center. The religious studies minor was on the Dean's List every semester of his college career, and on April 20, 2012 he was inducted into R-MC's Phi Beta Kappa chapter and received the prestigious John B. and Anita S. Werner Award, which is given annually to one or two graduating seniors who have been elected to PBK and who have made especially outstanding contributions to the college. During his tenure at R-MC, Lotts also received the Douglas W. Foard Phi Beta Kappa Award and the Richard E. Grove Award (for outstanding achievement in computer science), and he was a two-time recipient of the T. McNider Simpson Jr. Scholarship, which is awarded annually on the basis of academic achievement, creative leadership and a catholicity of interests.
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