UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Steven Haynes, a teaching professor in the Penn State College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), will retire on June 30 with 25 years of service to the University.
Haynes joined the IST faculty on July 27, 2000, and played a key role in creating the design and development option for the Information Sciences and Technology bachelor’s degree program.
“I was excited about the prospect of being part of an academic start-up and was drawn to its interdisciplinary mission,” he said about joining the brand-new college. “Over the years, I have enjoyed the variety of work, including teaching courses across the curriculum and doing research in diverse areas.”
In addition to the design and development curriculum, Haynes taught digital entrepreneurship classes, IST’s capstone writing course and a graduate course on design as research methodology.
“Steve’s leadership was critical to the creation and launch of our Human-Centered Design and Development degree in 2019,” said Andrea Tapia, dean of the College of IST. “He excelled at making coursework relevant for his students, leveraging his industry experience at Apple, Adobe and tech startups to help students understand why their work mattered.”
Haynes has employed a compassionate approach and enthusiasm for teaching that helps students find their motivation and define a path. In 2017, he was recognized with the George J. McMurtry Faculty Excellence in Teaching and Learning Award.
“Steve’s warmth, friendliness and sense of humor make him an accessible educator and collaborator,” Tapia said. “He is passionate about the content he teaches and recognizes the potential in each student. He genuinely cares about their success and always offers flexibility and kindness to help students find their way.”
Beyond teaching, Haynes has built a unique research portfolio, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Marine Corps, the FBI and other private and public organizations. Among this work was the Cropsmarts project involving the research, design and development of technologies to support commercial mushroom agriculture.
“The Cropsmarts project was funded for more than six years by the USDA in collaboration with the Penn State Mushroom Research Center,” Haynes said. “It resulted in many insights to inform commercial mushroom growers and provided real-world application development to many IST undergraduate and graduate students.”
As one of IST’s earliest faculty members, Haynes has witnessed — and contributed to — the continuous growth of the college and has high expectations for its future.
“I hope and expect that the College of IST will become even more of a leader in information sciences and technology scholarship,” he said. “I especially hope to see the Human-Centered Design and Development undergraduate program became a touchstone for user experience design and evaluation education.”
Haynes is excited to enjoy the rest of the semester with his students and colleagues before settling into retirement.
“I am planning to work on some application development ideas,” he said, “but I’ll definitely make some time for fishing.”