Arun Ektare is a professor of computer science in the Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics at Mesa State College, Grand Junction, Colorado. He received his BS degree in engineering, and his ME and PhD degrees from the University Of Roorkee, India (now IIT, Roorkee). He taught for nine years at the University of Roorkee (1973-1982), where he was involved in a small computer group. The group evolved into a separate department offering BS, MS, and PhD degrees. That involvement gave him experience in teaching a wide array of computer courses at the BS and MS levels. He also supervised several MS dissertations and one PhD dissertation, and published research papers. From 1982 to 1986, he taught graduate courses at the University of Technology, Baghdad.

He came to Mesa State College in 1986, and continues to teach computer science courses to undergraduates. Mesa State College is a teaching institution with an emphasis on undergraduate research. Arun was instrumental in revising the curriculum to bring it in line with the recommendations of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He also established a computing research laboratory, with student volunteers, using old, discarded computers. This lab now has several computers (mostly using Linux) where interested students can try out their projects. In 1998, he introduced an experimental semester-long course on software engineering. In this course, students designed software for local businesses using the software design cycle. The course became popular, and is now required. In 2000, the local ACM student chapter gave the Professor of the Year award to Arun for his services.

When he’s not busy learning new subjects in computer science, Arun enjoys reading (mysteries and nonfiction) and music (all varieties).