Prior to serving as chair of the Department of Computer Science at UA Little Rock, Dr. Baker was on the faculty (as Assistant Professor and Tenured Associate Professor) in the Computer Science Department at Iowa State University. During this 20 years, he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Software Engineering and conducted original research in Software Engineering and Natural Language Text Analysis.
Dr. Baker’s research in Software Engineering focused on Formal (Model-based) Specification Languages, and he was one of the original developers of Java Modeling Language (JML). Later and for the past 20 years, Dr. Baker has held jobs in the IT industry including Director of Business Development at the Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise (LITE), Performance Test Lead at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and Systems (software and enterprise) Architect at Nationwide Insurance.
Areas of Expertise
- Enterprise Architecture
- Formal Specification Languages
- Performance Testing
- Enterprise Software Development Methodologies (ESDM)
- Software Engineering
Contact Information
Office: EIT 579
E-mail: abaker@ualr.edu
Notes from the Chair
I’m excited to be here in central Arkansas and serving as the Chair of the Department of Computer Science at UA Little Rock. My professional journey includes 20 years as a member of the faculty in the Department of Computer Science at Iowa State University. I also spent 20 years in the private sector as a software engineer and architect. I’m confident I’ll draw on these professional experiences as we continue to grow.
Lucrative Careers
Cybersecurity, virtual reality, augmented reality, data visualization, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer graphics are dynamic areas of computer science with exploding career opportunities. The Department of Computer Science at UA Little Rock can guide you to jobs in these exciting areas.
Recently, graduates of the department accepted positions with industry leaders such as FIS, Dillard’s Technology, First Orion, Acxiom, and Mainstream Technologies. The department strives to serve and continues to build relations with Little Rock and Arkansas employers.
Opportunities for Students
The department is focused on students and offers a variety of opportunities at the undergraduate, M.S., and Ph.D. levels. The faculty is energetic, is committed to student learning, and has the extensive industry as well as academic experience. This department is unique in providing opportunities for both undergraduate as well as graduate students to participate in funded research projects.
Along with the possibility of participating in research, students are heavily involved through organizations including the Student Chapter of the ACM at UA Little Rock and the Cybersecurity Club.
Faculty and Research
The department recently added enthusiastic, experienced, and well-trained faculty in cybersecurity, mobile applications, and computer graphics. They join a department with nationally recognized strengths in virtual reality, augmented reality, data visualization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Check out the inspiring research and development being conducted in the Emerging Analytics Center (EAC) here at UA Little Rock. The EAC funds undergraduate, M.S., and Ph.D .students. EAC students have recently taken positions at Microsoft Research, Haliburton, Unity, Meta, and CAE.
Cybersecurity Degree Program
UA Little Rock offers a B.S. in Cybersecurity, which will prepare students for one of the fastest-growing fields. Cybersecurity is critical, as we become more and more dependent on our data.
New Opportunities
One challenge of being an enthusiastic member of a constantly changing field is developing new areas of focus and finding new communities to share them with. This year we will leverage our opportunities in cybersecurity to provide Arkansas’s active, soon-to-be-retired, and retired military personnel a clear path to educational opportunities in Little Rock.
I am a Vietnam combat veteran (101st Airborne Division, I Corp, 1970), and am therefore passionately committed to supporting opportunities for military personnel to study and find life-long success in Arkansas.
I’m honored, energized, and committed to the continued flourishing of the Department of Computer Science at UA Little Rock. Come study with us!
