Expertise
Web Technologies
Education
- B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- M.S., University of Maine
- Ed.D., Boston University
Biosketch
Jesse M. Heines served on the UMass Lowell faculty of Computer Science for over 30 years before his retirement in 2016. He was an early adopter of web technologies and specialized in courses on the implementation of interactive, user-centered web applications. He is also known for his interdisciplinary work at the intersection of music and computing, for which he won three National Science Foundation grants totaling over $1M. Jesse has published widely on these topics and was a frequent presenter at conferences on computing education. He also published on issues ranging from teaching students of diverse backgrounds to the resistance in Greece during World War II.
Since his retirement, Jesse has been active in a number of civil rights initiatives. He has written and produced a 4-part documentary for Chelmsford (Mass.) TV that looks at the four phases of racism highlighted by Bryan Stevenson: slavery, lynching, segregation, and mass incarceration. The documentary tries to show how these phases underlie the racial problems that persist in our country to the present day. For further information and links to the videos on YouTube, please visit the Civil Rights: A History website.
Jesse now serves as a volunteer for the New Hampshire Dept. of Corrections, where he goes "behind the wall" to teach inmates the basics of website development in an 11-week course. Prior to this role, Jesse worked with staff and inmates to develop apprenticeship programs in a variety of trades. These programs earned inmates Journeyman Certificates sanctioned by the US Dept. of Labor. Both of these roles help inmates get jobs upon their release, a critical factor in reducing recidivism and rebuilding lives.
All of Jesse's post-retirement efforts are inspired by Bryan Stevenson, who has said: "Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done," and "The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned."