(Photos by Pete Rosenbery)
March 14, 2012
Ten Questions with ... Tom Imboden
Job on campus/department you work in: Assistant Professor in the School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies
How long at SIU Carbondale: Three and one-half years.
Hometown: Carbondale
When you were a youngster, what did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut when I was really young but a telecommunications technician when I was in high school.
If you could choose another profession, what would it be and why? A “pen tester” -- someone who finds holes and vulnerabilities in computer networks and systems.
What is something you still want to accomplish in life? Finish the Ph.D I’ve been working on for the last three years!
People don’t know that you … Spent a month backpacking around Europe for my honeymoon.
Who inspired you and how? My wonderful wife, Annie, two little boys Thomas and Elliot, and our new little baby girl due to arrive in June.
If you could pick an actor/actress to play you in a movie, who would you pick, and why? Seth Rogen because he would make me funnier than I really am.
What is one random fact about you? Before I had the opportunity to teach at SIU Carbondale I spent many years as an “IT Guy” at various big and little companies in Southern Illinois and Chicago. I was laid off at one job as a direct result of the Enron collapse.
Cats or dogs? Why? Dogs! Can’t stand the litter boxes cats require. I also like seeing dogs exhibit their natural instincts like when they are pointing or retrieving during bird hunting.
What is your pet peeve? Why? Four things: Students texting during my class; people who let their dogs poop on sidewalks and don’t pick it up; people who insist on smoking on playgrounds or other areas for little kids, and people who block the sidewalks with their cars.
What would you like your gravestone to say about you? Raised some good kids and treated everyone nicely.