BU Prof Appointed Faculty in Residence

Cindy Fry, a senior lecturer in Baylor University's School of Computer Science and Engineering, has been appointed to serve as a faculty member in residence beginning this fall. Cindy and her husband, Joe, along with their two children, Tom, 16, and Katie, 15, will reside in Heritage House, home to the Engineering and Computer Science Living-Learning Center in the North Village.

Fry joins Dr. Julie Sweet, assistant professor of history, and her husband, Dr. Thomas Riley, faculty members in residence at the North Village Residential Community, as well as Dr. Xin Wang, faculty member in residence at the Honors College Living-Learning Center, housed in Alexander and Memorial residence halls.

After graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in industrial engineering, Fry was recruited to work for NASA and moved to Huntsville, Ala., to work at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. While there, she pursued a master's degree in industrial and systems engineering at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. While at NASA, Fry worked as a program engineer on the Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Station; as a crew trainer for Spacelab; and as the science operations director for the Tethered-Satellite System, a joint NASA-Italian Space Agency payload. Fry later returned to Texas with her husband to be close to her family and to run a consulting business, Systems Engineering Services. She joined the ECS staff in 1997 as a part-time computer science lecturer and part-time programmer-analyst in information technology services. She became a full-time lecturer in 1998 and, in the spring of 2004, was named Outstanding Professor.

In addition to her teaching, Fry developed the School's curriculum for the Baylor in Maastricht, Netherlands, study abroad program, and has expanded it into the Baylor International Technology Entrepreneurship summer study abroad program, a joint endeavor with the Hankamer School of Business. Fry also serves as the founding faculty adviser for the Baylor student section of the Society of Women Engineers, which was named the Best New Student Section in the Nation in 2001.

In December 2003, Fry was among 23 Baylor professors - at the time, the largest academic delegation from a U.S. university to go into Iraq - to conduct continuing education seminars for faculty at Dohuk University in northern Iraq. Fry, along with Dr. Benjamin Kelley, Dr. Brian Thomas and Dr. David Sturgill, led seminars on "Responsive and Targeted Engineering and Computer Science Education for the Kurdistan Region."

"I am enormously grateful that students will have the opportunity to live and learn in community with scholars like Sweet, Riley, Wang and now Cindy Fry," said Dr. Frank Shushok, dean for student learning and engagement. "The Faculty in Residence Program continues to assist us in the transformation of 'dorms' to residential learning communities."

"Baylor's engineering and computer science students will benefit greatly from such close association with professor Fry," said Dr. Benjamin S. Kelley, dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science. "She is already beloved by her students as she shares her enthusiasm for learning and achieving at a high level. And we're not only gaining one of Baylor's most respected faculty members, but the whole Fry family, and collectively they bring remarkable level of integrity and compassion."

Established in 2004, the Engineering and Computer Science LLC was Baylor's first living-learning center and is designed to foster a balance between serious intellectual pursuits and social interaction both in the classroom and living room. The environment is geared toward high- quality students who believe in community and who are dedicated to learning outside of just the lecture setting. It also encourages close interaction with fellow engineering and computer science students, as well as professors.

For more information, contact Fry at (254) 710-4874, Kelley at (254) 710-3871, Shushok at (254) 710-6957 or Terri Garrett, director for housing administration and academic initiatives, at (254) 710-6650.