Dennis Groth
Dennis recieved his B.S. in Computer Science from Loyola University and later earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Indiana University. He became an Assistant Professor of Informatics in 2002 and is now also the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the School of Informatics at Indiana University - Bloomington. Dennis designed the undergraduate capstone course sequence, along with supervising 518 undergraduate seniors working on over 120 capstone projects to date.
Dennis also developed and directs the Informatics summer camp. This camp is designed to introduce high school students to the broad area of Informatics. Students are predominantly from groups traditionally under-represented in information technology (ethnic minorities, low-income, first generation, and women). The camp has expanded each year, and has received partial support from the Dr. Mike Mirro Foundation, as well as the John Deere Foundation.
Sonya Harris
Soyna is the Program Coordinator for outreach initiatives at the University of Illionois at Urbana-Champaign. The mission of her program is to increase the quantity and quality of female and minority students and others who have been historically underrepresented in computer science. She oversees the group "ChicTech", a grass-roots initiative to generate interest in computer science among Illinois high school girls.
Mindy Hart
Mindy received her B.A. in Education from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana in May of 1995 and completed her M.S. in Educational Administration in August of 2006. In August of 2002 Mindy joined the Department of Computer Sciences at Purdue University to begin her role as the K-12 Outreach Coordinator. Prior to beginning this role at Purdue, she spent seven years as a high school computer teacher at Marquette High School in Michigan City, Indiana. At Marquette, Mindy taught courses in Computer Applications, Computer Programming, and Web Design. She also served as the school-wide Technology Coordinator. During the summers, she has previously served as the Director of the Boiler Kids Summer Camp and has conducted the Computer Science Summer Camp for Middle School Students the past six summers.
As a computer teacher and technology coordinator, Mindy's roles included designing curricula for her courses as well as providing professional development opportunities for the staff. These experiences led her into her career as the K-12 Outreach Coordinator. As the Outreach Coordinator, her primary responsibilities are to develop programs that can introduce computer science to students of all ages as well as provide support to faculty members from schools throughout the entire state of Indiana. Mindy has presented at many state conferences and national conferences including the Indiana Computer Educators, Hoosier Association of Science Teachers, TechEd Ontario, and SIGCSE conferences.
Michelle Friend Hutton
Michelle graduated from Indiana University with Bachelors degrees in Biochemistry and Chemistry Education and a Masters in Information Science. She holds an Indiana teaching credential in chemistry and general science and a California single subject teaching credential in Chemistry.
Prior to GMS, Michelle worked as a system administrator for Indiana University. Michelle originally joined GMS as the system administrator before shifting to teach 6th, 7th, and 8th grade computer science for five years.
In addition to her work at GMS, Michelle is active as the board vice president and equity committee chair for the Computer Science Teachers Association. She is also an active member of the National Center for Women and Information Technology K-12 Alliance.