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

Bio

I grew up in the little town of Whitehall, Montana, way back when personal computers and video games were just starting to become a thing. I was interested, but not hooked. In 1995, I graduated from MSU with a degree in business marketing, and I left for Seattle to work on independent film projects -- the most exciting thing I could imagine doing at the time. It was there that I met my future wife, Amy. I introduced her to Montana, and soon after that 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, so in the interest of getting a seat at the table in the modern world (honestly, it did not begin as passion for me), I pursued an M.S. in Computer Science, which I completed 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 about 16 years designing and implementing digital media for video lottery games and other digial gambling products. (I should say that by this time, computing had definately 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. Then 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 filmmaking and multimedia has been constant over the years. As a CS instructor, I'm putting that energy into teaching Web Design/Development, programming, and software projects. I treasure the opportunity to continue learning and helping 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 its inception -- and every day it enhances more projects, careers, and lives.