Tools of the Trade: Meet the Teaching Staff

Student Teaching Staff
Mara Hart	Hey, y’all! I’m a 3rd CS Major at the University of Virginia, School of Engineering! In the past, I’ve interned at Microsoft and taught for Black Girls Code and Kode With Klossy. I didn’t learn how to code until my first semester of college and it was so intimidating! Since coming to UVA, I’ve founded the Girls Who Code chapter at UVA and studied abroad in Shanghai, China!
Andrew Ni	Howdy! Im a 4th year in the Engineering School studying Computer Science at UVA. I’ve had software internships at Marriott International and Capital One, and I’ve been involved with HackCville and other academic student groups. I can’t wait to integrate my experiences academically and professionally into this course!
Sabrina Fuller	Welcome to CS1501! My name is Sabrina and I’m a 4th year and I’m super excited to develop and TA this course! Last year I transferred to UVA from community college—and I wish I had this course. CS can be incredibly intimidating, but I love the challenge! Since coming to UVA, I have joined the rugby team and am a transfer student peer advisor. Since quarantine started, I’ve done a lot more yoga and have picked up knitting again! Please reach out to me if you have any questions about the course or about UVA—and tell me you read this bio.
Alex Dean
Madi Flynn	Hi everyone! I am a 4th year Computer Science major in the Engineering School at UVA. I have had two software internships with Microsoft. Being a first generation college student and coming from a low-income background, I didn’t have the same opportunities to learn CS as most students at UVA had and most of my early CS knowledge was self-taught as these courses weren’t offered at my high school. I am really excited for this upcoming semester and happy to be a part of a course that would’ve been amazing to have when I started college.
Eric Kim	Hey hey, I’m Eric, currently a 3rd Computer Engineering major at UVA. This past summer I had a blast interning at Amazon, and the summer before that I taught young students in grades 1–7 how to code at iD Tech Camps! I’ve always had a passion for both learning and teaching and so I hope I can be a great resource for you all!
Jonathan Gordon

Professors
Tom Horton	I’m an Associate Professor and an Associate Department chair in the CS department at UVA. I grew up in East Tennessee, went to UT Knoxville, then went to grad school in Scotland. I lived in South Florida for 13 years (weird and wonderful place) very close to the beach, and I’ve been in Virginia for almost 20 years now (ahh, hills and seasons). I like dogs and music. I’m married, no kids. My personal pronouns are he/him/his. I try to make a difference, in student’s lives and sometimes in bigger injustice issues in the world. My computing interests (outside of better undergrad education) are software engineering and HCI. I’ve done summer work for Motorola in Florida, with a startup here in C’ville, and with SAIC.
Jacob Somervell	I’m a Professor of Computer Science and Department Chair in Math/CS at UVA Wise. I have been teaching computer Science for 16 years and I still love learning new things. I get the most enjoyment in watching new students learn something for the first time and seeing the ‘lightbulb’ go off. I hope each student learns at least one new thing from this experience.

Tom Horton

I’m an Associate Professor and an Associate Department chair in the CS department at UVA. I grew up in East Tennessee, went to UT Knoxville, then went to grad school in Scotland. I lived in South Florida for 13 years (weird and wonderful place) very close to the beach, and I’ve been in Virginia for almost 20 years now (ahh, hills and seasons). I like dogs and music. I’m married, no kids. My personal pronouns are he/him/his. I try to make a difference, in student’s lives and sometimes in bigger injustice issues in the world. My computing interests (outside of better undergrad education) are software engineering and HCI. I’ve done summer work for Motorola in Florida, with a startup here in C’ville, and with SAIC.

Jacob Somervell

I’m a Professor of Computer Science and Department Chair in Math/CS at UVA Wise. I have been teaching computer Science for 16 years and I still love learning new things. I get the most enjoyment in watching new students learn something for the first time and seeing the ‘lightbulb’ go off. I hope each student learns at least one new thing from this experience.