|
|
Who's Who at the Computing Center: Meet Our Staff |
|
Introducing Keith Bucher...Joyce Winslowjwins@uoregon.edu His first day on the job at the Computing Center, Keith Bucher showed up with his arm in a sling--the occupational hazard of being a serious ultimate frisbee competitor. Systems administration and ultimate frisbee may seem like an unlikely mix, but Keith is a multifaceted guy. Keith's path to Eugene and a job at the University of Oregon was also not what one might expect. Keith was born and raised in Helena, Montana, the only child of a computer-teacher mom and a civil-engineer dad with pioneering spirit. |
Administrative Services and Computing Facilities |
| His parents opted for a life
of self-sufficiency in an old (circa 1915) solar-powered homestead outside
of town. The Buchers had no phone and no TV, but they did have one of the
first personal computers known to man, a twenty-pound Zenith "laptop." The
long, harsh Montana winters were conducive to reading, thinking, and
fiddling with the computer, so Keith became well-versed in technology
at an early age.
When it was time to choose a college, Keith was ready for a complete change of scene. Aside from academics, his two biggest priorities were to experience a warm climate and a vibrant night life. He found all these and more in New Orleans, where he was able to satisfy his eclectic tastes in music (blues, funk, jazz) and graduate with a triple major in computer science, math, and physics from Tulane University. Tulane was also where he was first introduced to the sport of ultimate frisbee, and Keith competed with his team in the 2001 World Ultimate Club frisbee championships in Hawaii.
|
After graduation from Tulane, Keith worked at a New Orleans computer consulting firm for two years and then took several months off to explore the West, looking for the perfect place to settle. Ultimately, Eugene filled the bill--so much so that Keith bought a house shortly after arriving here in the fall of 2003. Keith joined the staff of the Computing Center in September 2004, after a programming stint with a local Internet start-up company called RealPro Systems. He helps maintain the UO Directory, DuckWeb, and Banner servers, and is currently working with Administrative Services' principal technologist Noreen Hogan on a major LDAP (Lightweight Access Directory Protocol) project. When complete, the new LDAP programs will provide authentication for UO students, faculty, and staff who access UOnet, ensuring that the UO can control access to resources such as the wireless network, dialin modems, the virtual private network (VPN), and the Blackboard teaching and learning system. |
