Name: Lynn Lambert
Title: Associate Professor
Company: Christopher Newport University
Contact Info: http://www.pcs.cnu.edu/~lambert
How I arrived at my present job (academic and other influences): I received a BA from Wellesley College in Latin vaguely intending to go to graduate school, but I really didn't want to go in Latin. In the meantime, I was offered a job programming. I did that for 5 years and received my master's in Computer Science at night. During the last year, I applied to Ph.D. Computer Science programs and was given money at the University of Delaware, so went there, worked with Dr. Sandra Carberry and wrote my thesis in Natural Language Understanding and Discourse. I started at Christopher Newport University in the Fall 1992.
How I organize my day: My day starts as a mom, reading and giving my 2 year old his asthma treatments. We then eat breakfast; I drop him at day care; and I come into school. At school, I read and answer my email, then prepare for classes and grade or work on my research. After classes, I go to meetings, then pick up my son, prepare dinner and do kid stuff, then teach evening classes or do more school work while my husband does evening kid care.
Amount of time spent working daily (at home and office): This has decreased this year as my son has required more care. In general, I am at school between 6 and 14 hours. On long days, I do little other work at home; on short days, I spent 2-3 hours working in the evening.
What I do to get myself thinking creatively: I don't know that I have a strategy; I just begin writing/coding/designing. Once I have a problem, it becomes part of me, and ideas come up mostly in non-work situations. I came up with a major idea for my thesis while in the shower.
My problem-solving strategy: Start. Break the problem down. Work on parts that I can do while thinking about the big picture.
What I do to relieve stress: Staying in shape and exercising is the best stress reliever for me. Also, changing the scene -- if I'm not getting much accomplished in one area, I work on something else.
My hero, mentor, or person I most admire and why: I have a lot of heros: my mother because she just absorbs information by observing people and things. My advisor because she was a great friend and very supportive. My dean because he is so positive.
How a negative event changed my life in a positive way: I am not a big believer in negative events having a positive effect. I think that people can overcome obstacles, but I've been fortunate to have mostly positive people, things, and experiences. I have had negative experiences, of course. What I've learned from them is that I don't like them and it's better to make possibly negative situations into positive ones.
One event or decision in my life I wish I could go back and change: I have made many mistakes, but I'm pretty content with where I am now, and I'm not sure that I would be here if I had made other choices. In college, I should have played more and studied less. Though I did well in college (mostly because I never missed or let myself get behind -- I never stayed up all night, but I never skipped a day of studying either), I didn't get much out of college; I would have gotten more out of meeting people, learning about Boston and pushing myself in different directions.
What values are the most important to me and what I value in others: I value kindness, humor, and responsibility.
What inspires, motivates, or gets me excited about my job on a daily basis: The students, and computer science is just a fun topic in general. There is always something new in teaching. Semesters end no matter how behind one is, and new ones begin.
Biography:
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Location: www.acm.org/crossroads/dayinlife/bios/lynn_lambert.html