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Dr. Gerald Morse Santoro

Academic Vita

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Introduction

    This is my academic vita as of the last time I updated it in 2017. Since then I have been an adjunct faculty member at State College of Florida. Having worked with PSU's regional campuses I always had great respect for smaller colleges. I teach cybersecurity, including: Digital Forensics, Security Analysis, Security Engineering, Linux Administration and Ethical Hacking.

    I am only putting this here for those who want to know my qualifications. I do NOT impress myself. I have had a very much fun career and have been very lucky!

Highlights

  • Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Communication and Information Science.
  • 42 years at the leading edge of computer and network services.
  • 50+ years in programming and systems analysis.
  • 23 years in computing services administration and management.
  • Assistant Professor/Senior Lecturer of IST (1999–2017).
  • Assistant Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences (1990–2017).
  • Emeritus Faculty status (June 2017); Member of the Graduate Faculty.
  • Chair, Human Information Technologies interest group (ECA): 1995, 1998.
  • Leader in ed‑tech and online pedagogy at Penn State (World Campus, 2000–2017).

Awards (with links where available)

  • Undergraduate Program Leadership Award – Penn State University – 2017 — PSU News
  • President’s Award for Excellence – National Professional Science Master’s Association – 2014 — PSU News
  • IST Faculty Member of the Year – 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.
  • George McMurtry Teaching Excellence Award – College of IST – 2008.
  • #10 of “35 Best Computer Security Professors of 2013” — backgroundchecks.org
  • Honorable Mention – Best of the Penn State Web 1995/96.
  • Joe Wyatt Challenge Award – EDUCOM Conference – 1991 (CMC in group problem-solving).
  • Catherine Ofeish Orner Award – Excellence in Research in Information Science – 1983 (University of Pittsburgh).

Profiles & Sites

Education

  • Ph.D., Communication & Information Science — The Pennsylvania State University (May 1989). Thesis: “Teaching Group Problem-Solving via Computer-Mediated Communication.”
  • M.S., Information Science — University of Pittsburgh (June 1984). Thesis: Expert system for heuristic design of overlay structures.
  • B.S., Business Economics — The Pennsylvania State University (June 1976).
  • Fox Chapel Area High School, Pittsburgh, PA (June 1971).

Employment History (full)

  • Adjunct Faculty, State College of Florida — digital forensics, ethical hacking, cybersecurity.
  • Emeritus Faculty, College of IST, Penn State — directory profile.
  • Assistant Professor / Senior Lecturer, College of IST, Penn State (2000–2017); Affiliate Asst. Professor, Communication Arts & Sciences.
  • Lead Research Programmer, Center for Academic Computing / Education Technology Services & Outreach, Penn State (1991–2002).
  • Manager, Microcomputer & Personal Workstation Group (1988–1991); Assistant Director, Office of Microcomputing Applications (1986–1988); Coordinator/Manager, MISC (1984–1986) — Penn State.
  • Lead Systems Analyst/Programmer (1982–1984) and Senior Programmer/Analyst (1978–1982), University of Pittsburgh.
  • Part-Time Observer & Systems Consultant, Allegheny Observatory (1980–1983).

Curriculum & Courses Taught

  • LA‑283 / CAS‑283 — Computer Applications in Liberal Arts I
  • LA‑483 / CAS‑483 — Computer Applications in Liberal Arts II
  • IST‑110 — Introduction to Information Sciences and Technology
  • IST‑250 — New Media and the Web
  • IST‑402 — Content‑Driven Web Applications
  • IST‑130 — Popular Culture and Technology
  • IST‑451 — Network Security
  • IST‑454 — Introduction to Computer Forensics
  • IST‑456 — Security Management
  • SRA‑111 — Introduction to Security and Risk Analysis
  • SRA‑311 — Risk Analysis
  • SRA‑470 — Cyber‑Espionage and Warfare

Roles: Academic Director for World Campus (2000–2006); Curricular Program Coordinator for SRA; Campus Program Coordinator (2005–2017).

Papers, Chapters & Presentations

  • Computer‑Mediated Communication in the Basic Communication Course — Basic Communication Course Annual (BCCA), c. 1994.
  • Facilitation of the CMC Learning Collaboration in K‑12 — INET96 proceedings.
  • Using video to establish a connection with students in online courses — Chapter in Springer volume (link pending or via ResearchGate).
  • “We Think, Therefore …” — PCA 2013 / PSU Robot Week 2012 (link pending).
  • “The Digital Biker” — PCA 2008, San Francisco (link pending).
  • “Blurring the Lines – The Virtuality of Human Reality” — 2008 (link pending).
  • “Harley‑Davidson to teach UCD & STS” — PCA/ACA 2006 (link pending).
  • “Team Performance in Real and Virtual Worlds” — HFES 2005 (poster) (link pending).
  • Multiple works on CMC, distance education, privacy, usability, and web training (1986–2005) (links pending).
  • Chapter: “Solving a Problem‑Solving Problem via CMC” in Contemporary Issues in American Distance Education (Pergamon, 1990) (link pending).
  • Chapter: “Computer‑Mediated Communication and the Online Classroom” (Hampton Press, 1993) (series overview; link pending).
  • Paper, "Teaching Group Discussion via Computer-Mediated Communication"; Santoro, G.M. and Phillips, G. M.; Communication Education, V38 ERIC reference N2 p151-61, April 1989

For items marked “link pending,” you can host PDFs locally (e.g., /vita/papers/filename.pdf) or link to repository pages as located.

Seminars Developed & Taught (Selected)

  • Internet Security; Cyber‑Crime; Open‑Source Investigations (2008–2017).
  • A.I. in Popular Culture and Reality — guest lectures (2008–2017).
  • Humanities Computing (1991).
  • Instruction and Computer Communication (1992–1994).
  • Safe Computing (1990–1994).
  • Inter‑NEXUS series: Internet, Web Server Concepts, Email, FTP, Gopher, IRC (1993–1997).
  • Effective Use of the Internet (1995–1996).
  • World Wide Web & Marketing Opportunities (1995).
  • Nutrition 551 Seminar on technology in Nutrition Science (1995).
  • Extending the Classroom – Technology and Teaching (1994–1996).
  • Intro to HTML & Web Server Concepts (1996).
  • Using the Web for Surveys (1998).
  • Strategic Use of the Internet in the PSU Class (1997).
  • Computer Viruses (1990).
  • Dozens of other technology and communication seminars, 1980s–2000s.

Technical Skills (Comprehensive)

  • Mainframes/Servers: DEC KA/KI/KL‑10; PDP‑11; VAX‑11; IBM 4341/4381; IBM‑3090.
  • Workstations: Sun, NeXT, IBM‑RT, Amiga, RS‑6000; PC/Mac (1982–present).
  • Networks: Early PSU LANs; AppleTalk, Token‑Ring, Ethernet; Cisco; Wi‑Fi; nmap; Wireshark.
  • Operating Systems & Environments: DOS; Windows (all); Mac OS/OSX; BSD/AIX; XENIX; NeXTStep; SUN‑OS; CP/M; VM/CMS; VMS; RT‑11; Linux (various); LAMP/WAMP/WIMP.
  • Programming: FORTRAN; BASIC; COBOL; LISP/PROLOG/OPS‑5; C/C++; Pascal; REXX; MACRO‑10/11/32; 8086 assembly; Objective‑C; Java; Perl; JavaScript; PHP.
  • Web & Servers: HTML/XHTML/XML; Dreamweaver; ColdFusion; CGI/ASP/AJAX; Apache/IIS; Listserv; IRC.
  • Databases: SQL; MS‑Access/Jet; dBase; MySQL.
  • Statistics & Analysis: SPSS; BMDP; SYSTAT; MINITAB.
  • Media & Productivity: WordPerfect; MS Office; PageMaker; Photoshop; Premiere; Audacity.

Miscellaneous

  • Guitarist & minstrel (Dr. Moondog); avid motorcyclist; organic gardener.
  • Amateur astronomer — Dog‑Star Observatory.
  • Martial artist (Kokikai Aikido 40+ years; various kung‑fu).
  • Partially disabled since a 2012 accident; hearing‑impaired.