The College of Natural and Applied Sciences is proud to announce that Dr. Ken Vollmar has been appointed head of the department of computer science at Missouri State University. Dr. Vollmar will begin his term and duties June 1. Dr. Lloyd Smith, current head of the department of computer science, elected to return to faculty at the end of his current term.
Dr. Smith says, “It has been an honor to serve as head of the computer science department but I feel it’s time for me to get back to working more closely with students. I look forward to seeing where Ken leads us in the future. My only advice for him is: if anything goes wrong, blame the previous department head.”
“Lloyd has done a great job of leading the computer science department and maintaining the ABET accreditation status of the department. I thank him for his service to the department and the college as department head.” said Dr. Tammy Jahnke, dean of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. “I look forward to working with Ken as he guides and leads an excellent group of faculty in the department.”
Dr. Vollmar is currently a professor in the computer science department and has recently served as a faculty fellow at the Missouri Department of Higher Education. He practiced software engineering in the aerospace industry for eleven years before joining MSU.
Dr. Vollmar says, “This is a great time to be a computer scientist! The availability of technologies such as multi-core computers, mobile devices, and cloud computing provide challenges and opportunities for new computer scientists. I’m excited to be involved in preparing students for their future careers and serving the university in this new capacity.”