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Dave Ulrich | Robin High | Elaine Erwin | Doug Simpson
By Vickie Nelson (vmn@oregon.uoregon.edu)
"Scribe Emeritus"
While his most recent official title was "Assistant Director, Documentation Services," Dave Ulrich has always preferred the less formal moniker "Scribe." Over the past quarter century, he has written and edited countless publications for the Computing Center and other UO departments.
After graduating from UC Riverside in 1963 with degrees in math and physics, Dave was hired by IBM to write software for Apollo test firings. He spent five years at IBM, first on the West Coast and then on the East, branching out into technical writing, graphic design, and consulting. After IBM, Dave ran a natural food business in Poughkeepsie, New York, and, later, a clothing store on Berkeley's Telegraph Avenue before moving to Oregon.
Originally hired as a FORTRAN consultant at the Computing Center in 1973, Dave saw a pressing need for documentation and soon talked his way into a technical writing position. Over the next 26 years, Dave produced numerous manuals, handouts, users guides, online documents, and eventually web pages. By 1981 he was heading a group called Documentation Services, and in the early 1990s he became an assistant director.
Officially retired in March '98, Dave has been transitioning into full retirement on a halftime contract. He'll be leaving us for good at the end of June.
What does the future hold? More time for his three grand passions (windsurfing, skiing, and deck building), extensive travel, some international homebuilding stints with Habitat for Humanity, and working on his memoirs.
If you don't find Robin High at the Computer Center, look for him at the School of Music. He frequently practices the concert organ in Beall Hall before work, takes organ lessons from UO music professor Barbara Baird, and accompanies soloists or choral ensembles.
Born and raised in Nebraska's corn country, Robin attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he majored in piano performance, before heading off to the University of Texas-Austin to earn an MBA and an MA in Mathematical Statistics. While in Austin he worked as a statistical consultant for a civil engineering consulting firm.
In 1991 he began postgraduate work in statistics at OSU while working as a consultant and also studying music. Music eventually drew him to Eugene, and in 1993, while pursuing an MM in organ performance, he began work as a student statistical consultant at the Computing Center. After graduation he was hired as halftime professional staff.
He left the UO briefly for a consulting position at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, then recently returned to the UO when a full-time job as a statistical consultant became available here.
As a statistical consultant, Robin spends much of his time with graduate students and faculty providing advice on the design of studies, data collection and coding, and how to use various statistical programs, such as SAS and SPSS.
In addition to music and math, Robin enjoys reading and hiking.
Elaine
Erwin Oracle Database Administrator, Administrative Services
Elaine Erwin's work touches everyone on campus. Elaine is the administrator for the Oracle database, which underlies BANNER, the system that runs such essential university functions as registration, admissions, financial aid, and human resources.
Elaine grew up in LA and went to USC, where she majored in electrical engineering. After graduation she worked for Hughes Aircraft building radar systems and became involved in computing, doing computer simulations and FORTRAN programming.
Although Elaine liked the West Coast, she wanted to live in a city smaller than LA. She left Hughes, spent time traveling, and settled on Eugene. She was employed locally by Advanced Lab Systems before coming to the UO in 1989 to work with Jim Bohle in database management. At the time, Bohle's group was working on the huge task of moving student information from an outdated system to BANNER.
Elaine has responsibility for all aspects of the Oracle software, including installing updates, keeping things running smoothly, and security. She is also a member of the BANNER Coordinating Group.
Elaine and her husband Jake, three-year-old daughter Catherine (Casha), poodle Nigel, and Siamese cat Harley, have recently moved to a five-acre spread in Peaceful Valley. When she isn't busy being a mother or fighting blackberries and poison oak, Elaine enjoys doing needlework.
Academic Micro Lab Manager, Computing Facilities
Doug was born in Oregon City and grew up around Canby and Portland. He took classes at Clackamas Community College and PSU and then entered the UO to work on a degree in computer science. While a student here, he began his career at the Computing Center as a student assistant in the Documents Room Library.
After graduation Doug worked for Software Sciences, a local real estate software company, writing technical documentation, doing customer service and technical help, and networking. He returned to the UO as manager of the CC-EMU Lab in February 1995.
As a lab manager, Doug maintains software and hardware, hires and supervises student assistants, and works with Mary Bradley, the lab coordinator, to keep the lab as up-to-date as possible. Doug says he's a generalist and enjoys his job because it allows him to move from project to project.
Doug is a folk dancing enthusiast and met his wife, Sarah, at a folk dancing
session. The birth of their son, Doran, now 20 months old, has put a temporary
halt to folk dancing, however, and Doug now spends most of his non-work time
being a father. When he finds the time he also enjoys backyard gardening and
tinkering with amateur radio.
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