Former Self Fellow Excels in Academia

Cory C. Beard *

• 1995-1999 Self Fellow
• Electrical Engineering

Where are you now (professionally)?
I am currently an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. My research interests lie in disaster response. For several years I have dealt with emergency communications issues in Internet, wireless, and cellular communications. Recently I have started also started working on using teams of flying robots to find survivors after disasters.

Where are you now (personally)?
My wife Michelle and I have two boys, Ryan who is 11 and Jonathan who is 7. We home school the boys, and Michelle, Ryan, and Jonathan are all active in music and theater. We are also active in our church, where I teach, lead a men's group, and recently had the privilege to preach for the first time.

What long-term professional or personal goals and projects are you working on?
Currently my main goals are to be a good husband, father, professor, and follower of Christ, all of which are ambitious and challenging goals. Professionally, I may eventually have a chance to move into university administration as a department chair or dean, but that would be a few years down the road.

What are your reflections on your experience as a Self Fellow?
The Self Fellowship gave me a great opportunity to see myself as having a broader role to play in society, especially in research, than in just a few specialized areas of expertise. I continually am drawn to research topics that would have a broader human impact, and I believe the development activities of the Self Fellowship program had a big part in compelling me in those directions.

*Originally printed in the Madison and Lila Self Graduate Fellowship 2008 winter newsletter. Reprinted with the permission of the Self Fellowship.