Faculty Spotlight
Roger Wainwright
Courtney Vanous, Staff Writer
photo: Jessie K. Finch / Collegian
Math and computer science professor Roger Wainwright has worked at TU for 32 years. Wainwright attended Iowa State University (ISU), following a long list of family alumni.
“All my life, I was only good in mathematics,” says Wainwright, so it was no surprise that he majored in math.
While Wainwright was studying there, ISU introduced a computer science program, which was taught by the math department.
“I took one course and I was hooked,” said Wainwright. He went on to earn degrees in both math and computer science.
“In 1974, there weren’t too many options for a computer science major,” said. Wainwright. He decided to teach and accepted a job at The University of Tulsa. He is now the department chair for math and computer science.
In addition to his regular teaching duties, Wainwright is currently working with the TU Robotics team to design a navigation system. This system would allow a robot to navigate a maze, locate people, and find hazardous materials.
However, his interests are much broader than just math and computers. In his college years at ISU, Wainwright belonged to the bridge club and played competitively. He still enjoys a good bridge game.
Wainwright and his family are also very involved in the Tulsa Special Olympics. Wainwright coaches participants in basketball, softball, and bocce ball (a form of lawn bowling) four nights a week.
Wainwright’s other hobbies include traveling and sleeping. He and his wife travel around the world for Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC) conferences every year.
He said he has been to every conference since the 1980s and has traveled to Cyprus, Madrid, Dijon, and Korea. Wainwright has also visited Moscow and recently returned from an Alaskan cruise.
Despite all of his interests, Wainwright maintains his passion for computer science.
“Computer science is absolutely amazing. No one ever predicts the past five years. It is the most rapidly changing field besides medicine,” said Wainwright.
If you want to learn how computer science has changed throughout the years or how you can become involved in the field, consider visiting professor Wainwright.
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