John Dooley Named Senior Member of Engineering Society IEEE

John Dooley, professor and chair of computer science at Knox College, has been honored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers with selection as a Senior Member. Only 12% of IEEE members are selected as Senior Member, which acknowledges both professional accomplishments and length of service in the field. The organization of engineers, scientists and professionals in electrical and computer sciences is the largest technical professional association in the world, with more than 365,000 members in 160 countries.

Dooley has taught at Knox since 2001. His teaching and research interests focus on software engineering and cryptology. This year he has published two research papers about the writing of cryptologist Herbert Yardley, one of which Dooley co-authored with one of his former students, Yvonne Ramirez, who is now a consultant working for IBM. He also regularly reviews works of fiction that use codes and cryptology.

"I'm particularly interested in how computers and cryptology came together," Dooley says. "Currently I am working on two projects in the history of cryptology. One examines the relationship between Herbert Yardley and William Friedman, America's two founding fathers of cryptology, and the second is taking a closer look at the work done by Alan Turing, the godfather of modern computer science, at the Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park in Great Britain -- the agency that broke German secret codes during World War II."

A graduate of Lindenwood College, Dooley has a master's degree from Syracuse University and a master's in electrical engineering from Rice University. Prior to teaching at Knox he worked for 18 years in software engineering, including ten years at Motorola, where he managed both large-scale and small-scale software development projects. "For most of my time in industry, I worked in the systems area -- operating systems, device drivers and communications -- the software that talks directly to the hardware," Dooley says.

At Knox Dooley has taught both introductory and advanced courses in computer science; supervised student research projects in computer and Internet security, and computer analysis of writing styles; coached the college's intercollegiate programming team; and helped students and classes develop software for community organizations. For the past six years, he also has organized public "computer wrestling matches" that pit student-built, computer-controlled robots against each other. Photo, left, Dooley builds his robot.

Dooley is a Senior Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and a member of the ACM's Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE). He also serves on the board of Nova Singers.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 47 states and 48 countries. Knox's 'Old Main' is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.