Daniel DeFrance

Teaching Info

See my Faculty Page for office hours, previous courses and other teaching related links.

Education

• B.S., Business Marketing (minor in English Writing), Montana State University, 1995
• M.S., Computer Science, Montana StateUniversity, 2001

Autobiography (Abridged)

I grew up in the little town of Whitehall, Montana back when personal computers and video games were just starting to become a thing. I was interested in what computers could do, but not hooked. In 1995, I graduated from MSU with a degree in business marketing and my own concoction of courswork in writing, film, and graphic design. I left for Seattle to work on independent film projects -- the most exciting thing I could imagine doing at the time. There met my future wife, Amy. I introduced her to Montana, and soon we moved to Bozeman to go back to school. Independent films were great fun, but I couldn't help noticing that computer expertise had become the hottest ticket around, and a direct way to procure a lucrative career in the modern world. Honestly, it did not begin as passion for me. I pursued an M.S. in Computer Science, and finished in the spring of 2001. We moved to Portland where I spent a year freelance consulting as a multimedia designer before heading back to Bozeman again, where I worked as a Technical Artist for IGT. I stayed at that job for 16 years designing and implementing digital media for video lottery games and other digial gambling products. By this time, an education in computing had certainly changed my life for the better, and I was grateful for discipline to which I had subjected myself all those years ago. Outside of work, I developed a new interest in printmaking, which has since grown into a favorite activity of mine.Amy and I had started a family, and somewhere in there she returned to MSU for an education degree. In the fall of 2018, I accepted a position as a Computer Science Instructor at Montana State University -- so here we are: both teachers now.

My interest in creative endeavors like film, print, and multimedia has been constant over the years. As a CS instructor, I'm channeling that energy into teaching Web Design/Development, programming, and software projects. I value the opportunity to learn and help others do the same in the wide open field of computer science. After all, the technology continues to broaden and advance faster every year -- as it has always since since the very beginning -- and every day it enhances more projects, careers, and lives.