Dr. Jack Purdum started his programming career on an IBM 360 mainframe as a graduate student in the 1960s. In the mid - 1970s, he became interested in software development for microcomputers, and he founded his own software development company (Ecosoft, Inc.) in 1977. The company ’ s main product was a statistics package (Microstat) that he wanted to rewrite in a new language called C. Lacking a suitable C compiler, Dr. Purdum ’ s company developed its own MS - DOS - based C compiler and other programming tools. He has been involved with language instruction ever since. Dr. Purdum has authored 15 texts and numerous programming articles and has received several teaching awards. He is currently on the cusp of retirement from Purdue University ’ s College of Technology.