Jason Sawin

Jason Sawin

Assistant Professor of Computer Science
jsawin@ups.edu

Background

I was born and raised in the very small town of Joseph, Oregon. Joseph is situated at the base of the Wallowa mountains, and has a population of just over 1000 people. After I and my 25 fellow classmates graduated from high school I moved to Portland, Oregon to continue my education at Lewis and Clark College. I received my BA in Mathematics and Computer Science in 1999. Upon graduating undergrad I worked in the computer industry in Portland for the next 4 years. In 2003 I decided to return to school and pursue my Ph.D. in computer science.

Pictures

[ Wallowa Mountains ]
[ Climbing ]

Hobbies

Climbing

I am a pretty avid climber though anymore is seems like I'm a guy avidly dangling on the end of a rope. I started out hiking in the Wallowa mountains in my back yard at Joseph. I got into the vertical stuff after I moved to Portland, where I convinced a passing acquaintance to teach me everything he knew about climbing....on his gear. The first weekend Mike and I went climbing, he literally dragged me up Monkey Face , which is still my favorite climb. I am a very long way from being on the cover "Rock and Ice" (more likely "Stair Climber Weekly") but I have a great time doing it.  I really love is the excuse that climbing provides to travel to very cool places:

Running

The very first official race I ran was the mile in a track meet my sophomore year of high school. I had a stunning finish -- dead last. I decided to retire while I was on top but under pressure from my adoring fans I came out of retirement in college. Having learned my lesson, I focused mainly on the longer distance races mostly between the half and full marathon distances. Now my schedule doesn't allow me to train as much as I used to (thats a nice way of saying I've gotten lazy) so now I run occasionally for exercise. Here are some of the more enjoyable races I've ran in:

Reading

Along with nearsightedness a love for reading is passed through the Sawin genes. I like way to many to pick a favorite but here are a few books that I've enjoyed: