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After almost 20 years of involvement with ��ݮӰ�� — first as a student and then as an adjunct professor and IT staff member — Jason Hendrickson (’07) has accepted a full-time faculty position at the University. As an assistant professor of engineering and computer science, he’s leaning into both his love for people and his passion for technology.

“I’m more of a people-person than IT professionals can sometimes be,” Hendrickson says. “But I really, really like technical systems. I really enjoy bringing order to the chaotic world of technology. But I also love working with people and helping them use their computers better. So I have both of those sides to me.”

Since 2010, Hendrickson has taught computer science courses for ��ݮӰ�� on an adjunct basis, using his experience as an IT professional to help equip students. But making the transition to full-time teaching wasn’t a decision he made lightly.

“It was something I was excited about, but I also approached it with great fear and trepidation, because I know how important that responsibility to teach is,” he says. “I think the main thing that made the decision for me is my love for working with the students and getting to disciple and encourage them.”

As a student, Hendrickson entered ��ݮӰ�� as a history major, inspired by a love for the subject that continues to this day. But then he started hanging out with computer science majors.

“I’d always been into computers, but I never thought I was actually smart enough to do programming,” Hendrickson said. “It felt unattainable. It looks like a 100-foot-tall wall, and you’re like, ‘I could never do that.’ But knowing people who were doing it made it seem possible.”

In the end, he graduated with a major in computer science and two minors — one in history and one in music. As someone who performed in Chorale all four years, serving as president of the group and singing solos, a music minor just made sense.

In fact, when he graduated in 2007, he was still interested in music — specifically music ministry. He and his wife Dana (whom he married in 2006) moved to Fort Worth, Texas, so that he could study music ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Just to pay the bills, he took a part-time job at an IT company.

But as that first year of post-graduation life dragged on, he found himself enjoying his IT work and wanting a full-time position to better provide for his family. A conversation with Paul Sedy, ��ݮӰ��’s chief information officer and Hendrickson’s boss when Hendrickson was a student, led to a job offer.

So in 2008, Hendrickson returned to ��ݮӰ�� as its new service desk coordinator. Over the next 15 years, his role continually shifted and expanded, until eventually his title was Director of IT Innovation. At the same time, he also served as an adjunct computer science professor, teaching a course or two every semester.

All along the way, he felt that he would love to teach full-time. In 2023, the opportunity came. And he couldn’t be happier about it.

“I want to help these students make as many good decisions now as they can,” he says. “Maybe they can learn from my mistakes, and I can share some wisdom with them. The conversations outside the classroom are just as important to me as what we do inside the classroom.”

Learn more about ��ݮӰ��’s computer science major at masters.edu/computer-science.