Last day
January 31st, 2022 | Published in Uncategorized
As I noted in my last post, I started working for what was then the Data Processing Division a little over 34 years ago. Now, today, January 31, 2022, is my last day working full time for the University. I will be coming back part-time in March, but I want to mark this milestone with a few comments.
First of all, I want to thank the leaders of that old Data Processing Division where I started, not only for hiring me but also for creating and fostering the developer community I have had the privilege of working with for the past three decades and more. I would mention names but I’m sure I’d forget someone. It saddens me that some subsequent management members haven’t appreciated how much that community has done to support the University, and how much more impoverished the University would be without it.
I also want to express how grateful I feel for all the members of that community. It has truly been a blessing and privilege to work with you. I salute your efforts to make the University a better place to work, do research, study, and learn. I am grateful for the many kind comments about me and the things I’ve been able to accomplish that I’ve received from people I’ve worked with acknowledging my retirement.
I hope that those of us who work designing, building, and maintaining information technologies never lose sight of the fact that, as much fun as those technologies may be, they only exist to serve actual human beings. We have an obligation to make the technology work for people, and not the other way around.
Finally, although I expect most people are aware that I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there haven’t been very many occasions during my time at work when I’ve felt like it was appropriate to discuss my faith. As I leave, I want to affirm that I do believe that Jesus of Nazareth was in fact the Son of God, born of a virgin in fulfillment of prophecy, and that he suffered for all our sins, died on the cross, and rose from the dead. I believe that salvation comes through his name, and in no other way. I also believe that Jesus called Joseph Smith to restore his church in our day, and that Joseph translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God from records kept by ancient prophets who lived in the Western Hemisphere.
Goodbye for now! I hope to get to work and talk with you in the future.