Department of Computing
Tony Pittarese - Faculty
- What is your hometown?
- I was born in Queens, New York, and lived in Edison, NJ until I was 12. My family then moved to Sumter, South Carolina, and I stayed there until I went to college in Pensacola, FL. I essentially stayed there until 2007 with brief periods of residency in Auburn, Alabama. Pensacola feels to me like my most recent "hometown".
- When you were 10, what did you want to be when you grew up? How about now?
- When I was younger I wanted to become a fine dining professional chef. (After I learned how hard a job it was and the crazy long hours, I decided being a teacher was a much better alternative. Most of the teachers I've met still have all their fingers. Can't say the same for most of the professional chefs I've met.) Now I can't imagine doing anything other than teaching and the occasional consulting project.
- How long have you been at ETSU?
- Almost six years as of this writing. My first semester at ETSU was the Fall of 2007.
- Best movie you have seen lately:
- Most recent movies have been a disappointment, but I guess The Avengers is the best one I've seen in the recent past.
- What surprised you the most when you first came to ETSU?
- How friendly everyone is. When we first visited the area we noticed that even the people working in Walmart were friendly! (The stores in Florida seemed to be always "out of stock" of that attribute.)
- All-time favorite book:
- I have three: The Bible, Great Expectations, and To Kill a Mockingbird
- What was your first job?
- Busboy in a formal dining restaurant. There's nothing like the camaraderie that develops when working in the restaurant business. There's also nothing like the stress.
- Why did you come to ETSU?
- Love the topography here, the weather is milder than Florida, and the departmental opportunity and people were great.
- Are you involved with any research or special projects? If so, please elaborate.
- A lot of my time and energy in the last couple of years has been spent on studying various elements of Enterprise Resource Planning and related technologies. I also have interests in e-Business business models and implementations.
- Describe any research or special projects you've been working on:
- Raising the technical level of undergraduate IS education within ERP systems
- What is your favorite food? If your favorite food is not common to this locale, please describe it.
- Pizza. As close to New York style as possible. Probably my favorite is from Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn. I still remember visiting there as a child.
- Sum up your life philosophy:
- Treat others the way I'd want to be treated.
- Favorite indoor activity:
- I enjoy reading, listening to audio books, and playing games with friends.
- What is the biggest accomplishment in your life up to today?
- Marrying my wife Dianne. Finishing my doctoral work would be second.
- If you could change one thing about ETSU or your time here, what would it be?
- Probably the most common answer to this question campus-wide: improve parking.
