Believe it or not, I didn't use to be a programmer. Baby Derek went to college to study languages, figure out how stuttering worked, and look at brain electricity graphs all day. But then Baby Derek learned that writing grants and papers is hard and evolved into Adult Derek, a multi-dimensional personality with 90% of those dimensions being programming and dancing.

In particular I love teamwork and teaching. Having been a young researcher who thought that college programming classes were far too difficult, I admire all the people who gave me the time and trust, giving me the opportunity to show what I could really do, both to others and to myself. Now I try to cultivate myself into the kind of person who can do for others what others did for me, facilitating teams to have every voice empowered and every talent seen.