Tracy Camp - A Day in the Life
Name:
Tracy Camp
Title:
Assistant Professor
Company:
Colorado School of Mines
Contact Info: tcamp@mines.edu
Webpage: http://www.mines.edu/fs_home/tcamp/
How I arrived at my present job (academic and other influences): CS job market wasn't good when I graduated with my MS. Thus, stayed in school for a PhD. (Also strong support from parents to get a PhD.) Once I had a PhD, working in academia seemed like the way to go.
How I organize my day: Depends on the day. Some days are dedicated to a large task (e.g., writing a grant proposal); other days are dedicated to a bunch of small tasks (e.g., create HW assignment, teach, etc.)
Amount of time spent working daily (at home and office): Approx. 10 hours a day, six days a week.
What I do to get myself thinking creatively: Relax.
My problem-solving strategy: Break problem down to the smallest parts and analyze each part individually.
What I do to relieve stress: Hike, read a book, watch a movie.
My hero, mentor, or person I most admire and why: My father. He only has an 8th grade formal education, as he had to work to support himself at 13 years of age. He has, however, educated himself via reading books/etc. and now is the owner of a business whith sales over a million dollars a year.
What I do to mentor those who work for me: I meet with those I mentor on a regular basis, talking with them about their future goals, etc.
How a negative event changed my life in a positive way: A poor evaluation once kicked me into high gear to improve, and I've been quite successful at work since then.
One event or decision in my life I wish I could go back and change: I accepted a job offer in 1993 based on advice from a mentor; within a week, I had other offers that would have been preferable
What values are the most important to me and what I value in others: Honesty, compassion, hard work.
What inspires, motivates, or gets me excited about my job on a daily basis: A wide range of tasks keeps me interested. Helping students reach their goals inspires me.
Biography: Tracy Camp is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences at the Colorado School of Mines. In 1996, the National Science Foundation awarded Dr. Camp a prestigious Career Grant for her research in the area of mobile computing and networking. Currently, she is the PI of three grants and a co-PI of one grant totalling over one million dollars in federal funding. The results of this research have appeared in numerous journals and international conferences.
Dr. Camp received an Outstanding Faculty Award in 1999 from the Asian Student Association at the Colorado School of Mines, and is the co-author of a software tool for teaching Computer Operating Systems that has been used at more than 35 universities in 14 countries. Dr. Camp's research into the plight of women in the sciences has appeared in over 15 newspaper/magazine articles, including the N.Y. Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Scientific American. She serves as the co-chair of the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM's) Committee on Women in Computing and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Information Technology Impact.
Tracy Camp received a B.A. degree in Mathematics from Kalamazoo College in 1987, an M.S. degree in Computer Science from Michigan State University in 1989, and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from The College of William and Mary in 1993.