That said, Sandra Swanson has been mucking about with computers since the 1960s, and one of these days she just may figure out what makes the stupid things tick! Her introduction to computers was as an undergraduate, programming in Fortran IV on an IBM 1130 (yes, with punched cards—we old time programmers know all about chads)! Following college she "graduated" to working with the Xerox Sigma 7 (while in graduate school), and then VAX, DEC, and DG minicomputers. The majority of those computers are now in museums...

Sandra's early microcomputer experience was with S-100 bussed C/PM and M/PM machines, which she and her husband developed into a vertically-integrated system for their business. She moved to the first IBM PCs in the early '80s, and then to 386, 486, and eventually, a Pentium IV PC running Linux. She has experience with applications, programming, networking, and operating systems.

Prof. Swanson has been teaching at the post secondary level since 1998. Prior to joining MCC she was on the faculty of Great Lakes College in Midland, MI, where she taught programming and networking classes. In 1999 Sandra joined MCC as a lecturer, and in August 2000 she was appointed as a full-time member of the MCC faculty. Sandra currently teaches C, Java, Perl, parallel, and shell script programming along with Unix / Linux operating system administration and occasional networking classes (save yourself a lot of grief, do not ask her opinion of Windows—or any other Microsoft product for that matter)! A staunch advocate of keeping things simple, she continues to program code and web pages using a Unix text editor introduced in 1976.

In addition to her MCC classes, she has taught with MCC's non-credit Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET) program and held the rating of Instructor in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Prof. Swanson participates in Maui's Women In Technology (WIT) initiative and represents MCC on that panel, along with its MentorNet program. She also assisted with the planning and development of specialized curricula in AIX (IBM's Unix) Systems Administration, a Cisco network certification (CCNA) program (she has been certified to teach both the Cisco Academy and AIX classes,) and the National Science Foundation funded High Performance Computing (HPC) certificate program track that is currently being taught at Maui Community College. Sandra chairs both MCC's Science, Technology, and Math Department and the campus Technical Support Committee (TSC). She also serves on several campus committees

Sandra holds a Masters of Science from the University of California at Irvine and a Bachelors of Science (using a slide rule) from Northrop University. Sandra is a member of Lions Clubs International, the Kahului Lions Club. With her husband Robert, she supports the Maui Symphony Orchestra Foundation, the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, and the Nature Conservancy. Prof. Swanson served Maui County as a member of the Mayor's Cost of Government Commission. An accomplished amateur cook and baker, Sandra also enjoys reading, gardening, walking on the beach, and taking long cruises with her husband. The Swansons reside in Waiehu.