Mack Joyner, faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and Director of the Master of Computer Science (MCS) Program at Rice University, was promoted to associate teaching professor, effective January 1, 2025.
"This honor is well-deserved,” said Christopher Jermaine, chair of the Department of Computer Science. “One thing to understand is that promotion in the teaching track is not just about high-quality in-class teaching, though that is necessary for promotion. It's also about leadership. Under Mack's guidance, the professional masters program in computer science has become the marquee professional master's program in the School of Engineering and Computing — maybe in the entire university. For hundreds of students who have graduated from Rice and launched successful careers in the tech industry, Mack is the face of computer science at Rice."
Joyner completed three degrees in Computer Science at Rice: B.S. (2002), M.S. (2005), and Ph.D. (2008). Initially a software engineer for Texas Instruments after completing his doctorate, he taught introductory courses part-time in the CS departments at Rice and Texas Southern University before taking on a full-time position at Rice in 2016.
His teaching areas include Introduction to Computer Security, Web Development, and Fundamentals of Parallel Programming.
“Students learn in different ways, so I try to provide different modes of learning," said Joyner. I use lectures, labs, quizzes, videos, and additional reading material to help students learn the course topics and to achieve the course learning objectives.”
He added that “one of the most rewarding parts of teaching is helping students work through a challenging homework assignment during office hours. I enjoy seeing both their excitement and sense of relief when they finally figure out a solution for the problem.”
Last October, Joyner was invited to give a talk about JavaScript to students at the Mickey Leland College Prep Academy, a magnet school housed in Houston’s historically diverse Fifth Ward. Joyner said, “We had a good discussion on how to ethically hack an online game using JavaScript.”
Joyner also serves as a Resident Faculty Associate at Duncan College, where he supports both the students and the Duncan Magisters to help provide a sense of community, both socially and academically. He explained that he “helps with study breaks, like a recent student-hosted Super Bowl party. I talk with students about how to find a summer internship or whether they should add/drop a course. As one of the Divisional Advisors at Duncan, I periodically talk with Duncan freshman about course planning.”
Joyner became Director of the on-campus MCS Program in June 2017. Since that time, he has “revamped the MCS curriculum and added courses more tailored to our students. We added a Professional Skills core requirement and a Management and Leadership area of specialization.”
One of Joyner‘s goals for the MCS Program is attracting more domestic students into the program. He noted, “There’s also an opportunity to attract more students from South America. I’d like to see more partnerships between companies and our MCS program throughout the year, with the expectation that these companies will then recruit our students for summer internships and full-time positions.“