Jackson Free Press

Belhaven University recently named Dr. David O'Gwynn as the new chairman and assistant professor of its computer science department. O'Gwynn says he is looking forward to implementing programs in the fall that will give students the training they will need for the field of technology and science.

O'Gwynn designed his programs to prepare the students for life in the working world of computer technology. Students will learn to create web and network software, network services, cyber security and defense, as well as the entrepreneurial field of independent video game design. O'Gwynn wants the students to able to take part in different fields of science and technology, as he believes it is important for them have as much real world and hands-on experience as possible.

"I don't want the students to feel like they've come out of school and haven't learned what they need to know about working with technology," O'Gywnn says. "That's the primary goal, and Belhaven is a great place to foster these goals."

O'Gwynn graduated from Belhaven University in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in English before attending graduate school from 2000 to 2003 at Mississippi State University, where he majored in computational engineering, or computer simulation. In 2011, he received his doctorate degree at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Over the last four years, he worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in its Lincoln Laboratory as a technical staff member for the cyber systems and operations group. His job focused on aiding the U.S. Department of Defense in projects involving cyber security and awareness and national cyber defense. O'Gwynn is ready to take his knowledge and training and give the new computer-science department a push into the world of science and technology.