About Donald Gaitros

Donald Gaitros is chairman of the Computer Science Department at Baylor University. Don has been at Baylor since 1973, when he began the teaching of Computer Science courses within the Mathematics Department. When the program reached the division level, Don became the director and when the division became a department in the School of Engineering and Computer Science, Don became the chairman. He has been the only head of the program since its beginning, using his position to recruit all past and present faculty members, develop quality curriculum, and direct the path of the Baylor computer science programs. Don worked to achieve accreditation for the computer science program, which was awarded in 1986 and was one of only fifty in the nation at the time.

Don was the coach and sponsor of the Baylor programming team that placed fifth and first in the International Programming Contest in 1980 and 1982, respectively. He was recognized for outstanding teaching by the Baylor Mortar Board in 1979 and 1999. He received the Outstanding Faculty Award from Baylor in 2000.

Prior to becoming a professor, Don was a scientific programmer/analyst for TRW Systems and was responsible for developing environmental control systems simulation models for NASA’s Apollo spacecraft.

Donald holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and a PhD in Mathematics from the Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly UMR) and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Western Illinois State University.

Donald and his wife live in Waco, Texas and are the parents of nine children and fifteen grandchildren. They enjoy camping, traveling and time with their family.