WSU Computer Science Professor Honored for Community Engagement with Lindquist Award
OGDEN, Utah – When Weber State University associate professor of computer science Richard Fry began involving his students in service — locally and internationally —it transformed his teaching and the lives of individuals from Ogden to Thailand.
For his exemplary accomplishments, Fry is the recipient of this year’s Lindquist Award, which will be presented at a luncheon, March 28 at 12:30 p.m. in Shepherd Union Ballroom B.
“The John A. Lindquist award is a premier award for faculty and staff at Weber State who go above and beyond to mentor students, partner with community members and invest in long-term impact,” said Melissa Yack Hall, Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) executive director. “Dr. Richard Fry is a name heard over and over on campus when people discuss faculty members committed to community-engaged learning. The Lindquist awards committee and CCEL are excited to recognize his work.”
Fry began his career with the military, where he managed a help desk for several thousand Air Force computer users, built the first mobile computer deployment kits for troops stationed in Iraq and administrated a working capital fund database for the Department of Defense, which tracked millions of dollars in information technology assets.
Fry began teaching in the College of Engineering Applied Science & Technology at Weber State in 2001 and in 2009 was introduced to the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL).
“It was then I discovered my hidden passion for service,” Fry wrote in an acceptance letter for the award. “Since 2009, my students and I have designed and developed several opened-sourced software engineering projects, currently impacting citizens in our local community every day.”
In addition, Fry has led more than 100 students on service-learning, study-abroad trips to Ghana and Thailand.
Fry loves to travel and has been to 51 countries and all 50 states. Recently he has spent time in Thailand where he and his students have been involved in a technology effort to improve English proficiency.
“Over the past two years, we have been working with a non-profit organization and primary schools in Phuket, Thailand, to teach underprivileged and orphaned Thai students English communication skills through custom-built Android apps.” Fry said. “The goal is to provide these children greater opportunities to learn English, so they can attend universities, which all require English proficiency, or obtain better-paying jobs within the local tourism and hospitality industries.”
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In conjunction with this initiative, Fry and his students also are working with a University in Northern Thailand to digitally capture and translate Thai folklore and stories in English.
In 2014, Fry’s students also helped a hospital in Ghana, West Africa, turn stacks of medical records into electronic files that could be used and shared with ease. In Dunedin, New Zealand, Fry’s computer science students collaborated with educators and local officials to create an open-sourced web application that tracks, documents and archives the impact that the lack of available health services has on children living in rural communities.
Closer to home, and dear to his heart, is the software program a team of Fry’s computer science students created to help employees at a local restaurant fill orders more smoothly. Runway Ruby’s, located at Hill Air Force Base, primarily employs adults with special needs.
Fry’s students partnered with PARC (Pioneer Adult Rehabilitation Center) to develop a web-based queuing system designed with the special needs of the employees in mind. The system enables the lunch rush to flow more efficiently, has improved customer satisfaction and lowered employee stress levels.
For their software system, the nine-member student team was selected as a finalist at the Institute for Empowerment design awards in Washington, D.C. in 2014. The competition focuses on helping individuals with developmental disabilities.
“Though I had participated in many classes that required community-impacting group projects, this group project was different,” wrote Frank Eddy, computer science alumnus, in a nomination letter. “Dr. Fry pushed us to focus our attention on the restaurant employees. He knew the need to understand their personal challenges and insisted we carefully listen to their input and integrate it into the design and implementation. Ultimately he created a unique situation for a stereotypical group of computer science students (often considered nerds) to interact and synergize as a team, resulting in the delivery of a complex and comprehensive software system."
Fry’s students have also helped Catholic Community Services build a sophisticated inventory control system for the Ogden Food Pantry and worked with St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall to create a computer system to track volunteer hours.
“By integrating community engaged learning components into my courses, I have opened the door to exciting and new opportunities for my students,” Fry explained. “Building long-term partnerships and friendships within our community and orchestrating the development of several sustainable projects has positively impacted countless people around the world.”
The award is named for John A. Lindquist, a strong advocate of education and the community, who spent a lifetime supporting Ogden, Weber County and Weber State. Lindquist’s ties to WSU date back to the late 1930s, when he attended Weber College and was a student body officer. Throughout his lifetime, he generously supported cultural, academic, athletic and student activities and programs.
The Lindquist Award luncheon also will recognize many community partners, along with faculty, staff and students involved in community engagement.
During the 2016-17 school year, which ends in April, 157 WSU faculty and staff have participated in 1,175 hours of community engagement. More than 2,700 students have contributed 63,246 hours to the community.
Visit weber.edu/ccel for more information about the many events and opportunities for community-engaged learning at Weber State.
Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University.
For high-resolution photos, visit the following links:
wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2017-photos/March-2017/i-SXq8wGP/A
wsuucomm.smugmug.com/Press-Release-Photos/2017-photos/March-2017/i-xRZLNdK/A
Allison Barlow Hess, Director of Public Relations
801-626-7948 • ahess@weber.edu- Contact:
Melissa Yack Hall, CCEL executive director
801-626-7737 • melissahall4@weber.edu