Lori Pollock

Name: Lori Pollock
Title: Associate Professor
Company: University of Delaware
Contact Info: pollock@cis.udel.edu
Webpage: www.cis.udel.edu/~pollock

How I arrived at my present job (academic and other influences): I pursued my PHD in computer science in order to be able to take an academic position where I could combine research and teaching. I became interested in teaching when I was teaching a beginning level programming course as a graduate student teaching assistant. In my last year of graduate school, I got married to a geologist who was employed in Houston, TX, so I interviewed at Rice University. I was an Assistant Professor there for four years. As we started our family, both of us realized that we wanted to move to the northeast for our children to grow up close to their grandparents and other extended family. My husband was able to be transferred to Pennsylvania, and we moved. Since I was pregnant with our second child, I did not interview, and in fact took 18 months off. I arrived at University of Delaware by interviewing for a visiting position after our second child was a year old. There was no tenure track position opening at that time. After being a visitor for a year, a tenure track position opened up and I applied for it. I took the whole 6 years towards tenure in order to revamp my research career and broaden my research direction after being out for 18 months. I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 1998.

How I organize my day: My day starts at 5:30 AM, getting our three children off to school by 7:00 and preschool by 8:00. I arrive at the office around 8:30-9. I usually spend an hour responding to email each morning. On my two class days, I spend time preparing for class, in the classroom, and office hours. I also schedule 1-2 hour research meetings with individual graduate students in the late afternoon on these days. On my non-class days, I schedule administrative committee meetings, and spend time reading, working on research papers, and tasks that need to be completed for various positions I hold (SIGPLAN EC, CIS undergraduate committee chair, small conference organization). I need to leave the office in time to pick up my preschooler by 5:30. Then, there is dinner, soccer practice, and homework between 6-8:30. At that point, I either relax with my husband or we both start working again or answering email, depending on the workload and deadlines.

Amount of time spent working daily (at home and office): I spend 7 hours during the day, and maybe 1-2 in the evening, plus several hours on the weekend. It varies depending on deadlines, and my family's planned events. I try to reserve my time with my family on the weekends and evenings from 6-8:30.

What I do to get myself thinking creatively: I think creatively best in the mornings. I sit in a quiet room, without distractions when I want to think about creating something new. I read alot, attend conferences, and think through specifically characterizing the problems to be solved. I also write up what I am thinking, as it makes the issues clearer to me.

My problem-solving strategy: First, I write down a clear, precise definition of the problem to be solved in my own words. Then, I create a list of the various issues to be addressed in relation to the problem. Then, I begin to examine the application of different techniques from my knowledge of the area and other areas and how techniques have worked in other similar situations. Then, I analyze what aspects of some approaches would work well, and what aspects of other approaches work well. A solution usually evolves from this process. Then, it is time to critique the solution and find the flaws, and revise.

What I do to relieve stress: I spend time with my family, garden, and exercise.

My hero, mentor, or person I most admire and why: Mary Lou Soffa at the University of Pittsburgh. I often find myself thinking what would she do in this situation. In every position she has been in, she has found a project/mission of how she could best use this position to help others. She has helped people of all kinds in this way: minorities, women, conference organizers, students, faculty, perspective students, ... I greatly admire her for creating a mission in each task that she undertakes, all for the good of others. And, on top of it, she always succeeds in doing a fantastic job!

What I do to mentor those who work for me: I provide guidance and support without being a dictator. I try to create a relationship in which they feel that their creativity and contributions are very important and valued, while still providing feedback to further improve their skills.

How a negative event changed my life in a positive way: There have been many of these events in my life. The most recent was going through the process of being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, surgery, and being told I'm cured. The positive effect was reevaluating my priorities in life, becoming less stressed over the small things, focusing my efforts on projects towards which I have a passion to make a difference, and realizing that when things aren't going the way I would like, now is the time to change them.

One event or decision in my life I wish I could go back and change: I'm at a loss here. I have always believed that each decision, while it may have seemed like a bad one at the time, has led to something positive in the end.

What values are the most important to me and what I value in others: I believe that the most important values to me are honesty and the kind and giving treatment of others. I very much admire folks and strive to live and teach our children to give to others, sometimes at the expense of their best interests.

What inspires, motivates, or gets me excited about my job on a daily basis: the variety of activities in a given day, the constant daily learning, the interaction and mentoring with students, the challenges of research, the satisfaction of looking back at a paper that has been completed, the large degree of freedom in planning my own activities to pursue.

Biography: