Peter C. Dunn, Quick Profile - Introductory Letter

My name is Peter Dunn and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. I attended 6 schools for my high school diploma. Enduring, I mean enjoying, Catholic schools for 1st, 2nd, 4th, 9th and 10th grades, and public schools for the other grades. My friends from the neighborhood, whom I attended school with for 5th through 8th grade, still get together and stay in touch. My college career was similar to my k-12 career, as I went to 5 different colleges. I received a BS in Math/CS and a Masters in Applied Math. Developing good study habits in 9th and 10th grade helped me through college, and working while going to college took forever; next life I'll take out a loan.

My relationship with computers is a love hate relationship. On one hand it's stimulating to learn, use and develop applications, but on the other it is hard to keep up with all the technologies. I have made my living the last 22 years working with software. I am proficient at all the obsolete languages, and coming up to speed in .Net/C#. I started developing software on Mainframes for EDS/GM in PL/1 for their CGS (Computer Graphic System) application. My life took a turn when I started a software company (Brendan Technologies, Inc.). At Brendan (early 90s) our application supported Amiga, Mac, and Windows users and was written in True Basic. Later, I worked for Lucent Technologies for 6 years using and learning Unix/Linux, C++, Pearl, vi, X25...etc. Currently I am back with Brendan where we are targeting PC users and therefor converting our application to .NET C#. I use a variety of applications and technologies to test our software, such as: TestComplete, XML, XSTL, Nant, Cruise Control...etc. Even though I have dealt with many aspects of software (Networks, Security, Data Bases, Backups, etc) I feel it is changing so fast that it is impossible to keep up with it all.

The mindset that jumped out at me about the mission statement was the part about preparing thoughtful educators and promoting professional practices. To achieve educational equity, where every student has fair chance at a quality education, requires life long learning and reflection. To me it means that a teacher can not simply go through the motions of teaching, but instead must strive to discover methods to reach all the students. When I applied to CSUSM I was not even aware of a mission statement, but after taking ED364 and ED350 I would say CSUSM is fulfilling their mission.