Episode 83 – Buck Bottom to Top of the Academic Ladder

Hosts: Dr. Jeremy Waisome & Dr. Kyla McMullen

Guest: Dr. Cheryl D. Seals

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@cheryldseals

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Linked In – https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryldseals

Basic info. https://eng.auburn.edu/csse/people/ || More info. https://www.eng.auburn.edu/~sealscd/

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Episode Description:

In this inspiring episode of Modern Figures Podcast, hosts Kyla McMullen and Jeremy Waisome sit down with Dr. Cheryl D. Seals, the Charles E. Barkley Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Auburn University. From her early days in Louisiana to becoming a powerhouse in user experience, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, Dr. Seals shares the pivotal moments that shaped her path in tech.

💡 You’ll hear how Dr. Seals:

Turned curiosity into a career in cutting-edge computing research

Champions diversity and inclusion in STEM through intentional mentorship

Navigates the balance between academic excellence and personal fulfillment

Envisions the evolving landscape of STEM education for future generations

Whether you’re a student, educator, or tech professional, this episode offers powerful insights and actionable inspiration on building a meaningful career while lifting others along the way.

Bio:-::

Cheryl’s Bio–

Dr. Cheryl D. Seals, the Charles E. Barkley Professor of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Auburn University, is a dynamic and accomplished academic, researcher, and educator with a career spanning more than 25 Years. Dr. Seals is an alumnus of Grambling State University, North Carolina A&T State University and received her PhD from Virginia Tech. With respect to her research, Dr. Seals has been involved in over a dozen studies of Advanced Learning Technologies supporting improved user experience. She is practiced in methods to evaluate and illicit participatory feedback from novice and academic audiences. Our research team has garnered over $17.3M in research funding and published over 100 journals and conferences papers in eLearning, Teacher Education (online learning), Computational Linguistics, Enhancing Virtual Reality (VR) through projects in VR and Augmented Reality (AR) (i.e., Pharmacy, Building Science (VR), Civil Engineering Structures (VR), Communications disorders (VR) and (Osteopathic Medicine (AR). Dr. Seals has extensive research mentoring & supervision of over a hundred graduate, undergraduate and REU students, graduated 20 Ph.D., 78Masters students, and greater than 100 undergraduate researchers including REUs (i.e., 44).

Dr. Seals works with many programs focused on improving computer science education and broadening participation in computing at all levels and to increase the computing pipeline by cultivating students’ interest in STEM disciplines and future technology careers.  Dr. Seals is as CoPI of the NSF IAAMCS Alliance that works on increasing the computing pipeline by creating opportunities for African American students to learn more about research and academic careers, through research experience and training.  IAAMCS facilitates mentoring, computing research, and skill building for undergraduates and graduate students. Dr. Seals was also a CoPI of the NSF STARS Alliance (starscomputingcorps.org) a regional academic partnership with over 50 institutions, industry, K-12 and the community to strengthen local broadening of computing by focusing on K-12 outreach, community service, student leadership and computing diversity research.