H. Michael Covert

Summary

My interest in mathematics started early in life. I showed an aptitude for the subject in elementary school and by junior high school had started accelerated course work in algebra and plane geometry. The high schools that I attended were fortunate to have computers as early as 1970. My real commitment to mathematics was cultivated by one exceptional high school teacher. He set up a small study group that supplemented normal study activity with material put together by each study group member. The experience was one of the most valuable in my life since it taught me to work with a team. We covered an extremely wide variety of topics ranging from elementary calculus to tensor analysis.

My college experience was atypical. At Ohio State University I completed nearly all of my mathematical course work by the end of my sophomore year and saved my basic educational requirements until my junior and senior years. In retrospect, I believe that this was a good way to proceed since my mathematics course work organized my thoughts, making liberal arts course work “easier.” It also provided a good foundation for delving into physics and astronomy since my mathematical training facilitated an understanding of those subjects.

In my sophomore year I obtained a position with the Instruction and Research Computer Center (IRCC) at OSU. I began by servicing printers, keypunches, terminals, etcetera. Then I moved to consulting and finally into systems programming. I used my mathematics background in nearly every aspect of my job.