BOONE, N.C. — Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, Lowe's Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in Appalachian State University's Department of Computer Science, will serve as macebearer for the Fall 2023 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Commencement Ceremony. Dr. Donna Lillian, interim associate dean of CAS, will carry the University banner and Dr. Mike Madritch, interim dean of CAS, will carry the College banner.
The Appalachian State mace is carried by a senior faculty member in all academic processions. Traditionally, the macebearer precedes the chancellor of an institution, both upon entering and leaving a ceremony. The mace serves as a symbol of authority just as it did during the Middle Ages, when a macebearer accompanied an official taking office or opening court. The App State mace symbolizes the university’s mountain heritage, the rustic location, and the sophistication of an emerging, national leader in higher education.
About Dr. Rahman Tashakkori
Dr. Tashakkori earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Ahwaz University, master's degrees in nuclear engineering and engineering science from Louisiana State University, and his doctoral degree in computer science from Louisiana State University. He joined the Appalachian State Department of Computer Science as an assistant professor in 2000. In 2011, he was promoted to full professor. Tashakkori went on to serve as department chair from 2017 through 2023.
Tashakkori's research interests include image processing, data science, honey bee monitoring systems, and computer science education. He leads the App State Multipurpose Apiary Informatics System (AppMAIS), a beekeeping information system designed to investigate the health, development, and genomic diversity of honey bee hives in North Carolina. The AppMAIS team—including undergraduate and graduate students studying computer science and biology—employs an open-source internet platform and BeeMon, a hive monitoring system designed in Tashakkori's Visual and Image Processing Lab. The research is funded by a nearly $1.1 million grant from the North Carolina General Assembly's UNC System Research Opportunities Initiative.
Dr. Rahman Tashakkori and Tayo Olofintuyi, junior computer science major from Greensboro, examine an AppMAIS honey bee hive located on Appalachian State University's Boone Campus. Olofintuyi is an App State Multipurpose Apiary Informatics System (AppMAIS) researcher, Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) scholar, and ECR Software Corporation Program scholar. Photo by Chase Reynolds
Tashakkori is devoted to helping underprivileged students succeed in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields and has led multiple STEM scholarship and research programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Since 2018, he has directed Appalachian High Achievers in STEM, which was funded by a $1 million award from the NSF S-STEM Program. The program's purpose was to attract academically-talented students with demonstrated financial need to STEM majors and support them through study groups, mentoring and tutoring, leadership and professional development workshops, and community building. The students also enrolled in a weekly STEM seminar instructed by Tashakkori.
Tashakkori currently directs the Mountains to Sea North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (M2S-NCLSAMP) program at Appalachian State. Funded by a five-year NSF award totaling over $3.3 million, the M2S-NCLSAMP program was established to support the recruitment and success of underrepresented students in STEM fields. App State is one of five UNC System institutions offering the program, and Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Dr. Heather H. Norris serves as the principal investigator of the project. Similar to Appalachian High Achievers in STEM, students in the M2S-NCLSAMP program participate in activities that support both academic and personal development.
Additionally, Tashakkori serves as the principal investigator on the CS4App: Bringing Computer Science to High Schools in Rural Appalachia project in collaboration with Department of Computer Science Chair Dr. James Fenwick and Professor Dr. Cindy Norris. Funded by a four-year NSF award totaling nearly $300,000, the project aims to expand and diversify computer science education in rural high schools by preparing and supporting teachers in teaching an Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course. The project's investigators partner with the Friday Institute of Educational Innovation at North Carolina State to offer research-based teacher professional development, including a 4-week, intensive training in the summer and continued interactions throughout the school year. So far, 21 teachers from across North Carolina have completed the summer training at App State.
Tashakkori's outstanding service to his department and the university for over two decades qualify him for the esteemed role of macebearer. Congratulations on this honor, Dr. Tashakkori!
The CAS Commencement Ceremony will be held on Friday, December 15, 2023, at 9 a.m. in the Holmes Convocation Center at 111 Rivers Street in Boone. For details about the Fall 2023 Commencement Ceremonies and to watch a livestream of the Ceremonies, visit appstate.edu/commencement.
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About the Department of Computer Science
Appalachian’s Department of Computer Science provides a rigorous, high-quality education that prepares students for the computing industry or graduate education. It offers a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, which is accredited by the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET, and a Master of Science degree in computer science. Learn more at https://compsci.appstate.edu.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and unique location. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,400 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.
By Lauren Andersen
December 6, 2023
BOONE, N.C.
Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, Lowe's Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in Appalachian State University's Department of Computer Science, will serve as macebearer for the Fall 2023 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Commencement Ceremony.
Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, Lowe's Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in Appalachian State University's Department of Computer Science, will serve as macebearer for the Fall 2023 College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Commencement Ceremony.