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Meet Our Faculty: Jeff Stone

Jeff Stone


Assistant Professor | Computer Sciences and Information Systems

What he teaches:
Introduction to Object Oriented Programming
Introduction to Web Programming
Introduction to Database Programming
Discrete Structures 
Prior teaching experience
Seven years corporate trainer for SandStar Family Entertainment
15 years corporate trainer and lead developer for Universal Accounting School
10 years magic lecturer and teacher

Number of years teaching at SLCC:
2

Undergraduate degree:
University of Phoenix


Why working at SLCC matters:
I love the idea of working with the community to help those who otherwise might not be able to go to college.

Greatest professional challenge:
Keeping up with all of the projects I want to accomplish. My brain works faster than my body.

Greatest professional accomplishment:
Authored several books, including “Stone Cold Magic,” “Stone Frixion Fire,” “Tarot Below Zero,” “793.8 Where is the Magic?” and “Stone Cold Magic Magazine Year One.” Published the online Stone Cold Magazine for eight years.


Advice for students or others:
Your impact on the world matters. Astonishment in magic vernacular is a feeling of wonder you impart to your audience. In the non-magic world, I believe Bill and Ted (in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure”) summed it up nicely when they said, “Be excellent to each other.”

How did you go from magic to teaching computer programming?
Just as teaching has always been a part of my other jobs, magic has always been a part of my teaching. I’ve used magic as an object lesson to prove or demonstrate a point. I’ve used it to catch the attention of the students. I’ve used it to tell a story and in so many other ways.

I’ve done four of the five jobs I dreamed of when growing up, including a nuclear mechanic in the U.S. Navy, computer programmer, professional magician and teacher. I had wanted to be a lawyer but lost interest because I fulfilled the fantasies of that career elsewhere
(performing, magic and logic, programming and teaching).

Future plans:
My first SLCC-related goal is to get tenure. In addition, I have several books in me waiting to come out.

Hobbies:
Rubik’s Cuber (average solution time is 30 seconds). I can solve all Rubik’s cubes from a 2x2x2 up through a 7x7x7. I’m also a cube collector and a retired professional magician. I own the two largest magic-review websites in the world, mylovelyassistant.com and magicreviewed.com.


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