SIUE's Bouvier Named U.S. Air Force Academy Distinguished Visiting Professor

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill., Feb. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) has invited Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Dennis Bouvier, PhD, to enrich Academy Cadets' academic experience as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Computer and Cyber Sciences from June 2020-May 2021.

Located in Colorado Springs, the USAFA's highly ranked university offers more than 30 majors and has approximately 400 faculty members, both civilian and active military. Its visiting faculty program invites outstanding educators, who can be released from their home institution for the duration of the assignment, to join its faculty and enhance student learning.

Bouvier, a professor in the School of Engineering's Department of Computer Science, plans to live on base and teach courses related to computer science. He will return to his normal duties at SIUE upon completion of the opportunity, having gained new knowledge and invigorated ideas to enhance his teaching and scholarship.

"I've had the good fortune of meeting faculty from other colleges and visiting other institutions," said Bouvier. "In nearly every visit, even if for only a couple days, I have learned something valuable. Some of these lessons I've brought to SIUE through changes in the way I teach a class or present a course topic."

"If a short visit can teach me something, surely spending a year at another institution, especially one with a strong reputation for high standards, would be a learning experience," he added. "In particular, I am interested to see how the Air Force Academy teaches cybersecurity topics and courses."

Bouvier was recently recognized as a co-author of a computer science paper deemed #4 most influential in recent history by the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education. He is also an active educator who teaches myriad computer science courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and consistently helps students coordinate such competitions as SheCode, WeCode and eHacks.

Bouvier's assignment will conclude with the USAFA's May 2021 commencement ceremony.

The SIUE School of Engineering is one of the largest engineering schools in the region. It offers comprehensive and affordable engineering programs with eight undergraduate degrees, five master's degrees and two cooperative doctoral programs. Students learn from expert faculty, perform cutting-edge research, and participate in intercollegiate design competitions. Companies in the metropolitan St. Louis area provide students challenging internships and co-op opportunities, which often turn into permanent employment. Students gain hands-on experience in the School's state-of-the-art facilities, including the new Fowler Student Design Center.

SOURCE Southern Illinois University Edwardsville