Career Planning

Mathematics and Computer Science - Career Planning

Career Overview for Mathematics and Computer Science Majors

The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science prepares students for many different careers with quantitative and computational aspects. By incorporating open-ended realistic projects, oral presentations, and broad-based collaboration into our coursework, our students are well-prepared to solve realistic problems in collaboration with diverse teams in many different career settings. Our students work towards their career goals by participating in internships and conferences, pursuing creative independent projects, and networking with alumni.

Internship & Career Exploration

Our students go on to solve problems beyond Hendrix in many different roles. Among our recent graduates are software developers, actuaries, data analysts, entrepreneurs, researchers, business owners, professors, and secondary school teachers. Students discovered many of these opportunities through engaged learning experiences including:

  • Internships with companies including Amazon, Palantir, Acxiom, and PNC Bank
  • Collaborative work developing software and quantitative solutions for non-profit organizations in Central Arkansas
  • Undergraduate research experiences in topics such as Robotics, Game Design, Mathematical Modeling, Mathematics Education, and Programming Language Development.
  • Graduate study, including advanced degrees in Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics, Cybersecurity, and many other areas.

You may also find the “What can I do with this Major” database helpful. Click the links below to access this resource.

Employment & Graduate School

Recent graduates have been hired by many different companies, including:

  • Acxiom 
  • Google
  • Apptegy
  • First Orion
  • Epic
  • Northrup Grumman
  • Tyson Foods
  • J.B. Hunt
  • Reviewbox
  • Capital One
  • Take-Two Interactive

Recent graduates have pursued advanced degrees at schools including:

  • University of Texas
  • University of Virginia
  • Washington University in St. Louis
  • University of California - Irvine
  • Rice University
  • University of New Mexico
  • University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  • University of Massachusetts
  • University of Pennsylvania
  • Stanford University
  • University of Denver
  • Johns Hopkins University

Alumni Highlights

Ryan Rose ’17 is employed at Google as a Software Engineer. He focuses on performance evaluation of the Google Compute Engine on behalf of clients making use of its computing cloud services.

Elizabeth Dye Yankowski ’16 is employed by Northrup Grumman Corporation as a software engineer. With the sponsorship of her employer, she earned a Master of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University in Computer Science, with an emphasis on Cybersecurity.

John McAvey ’16 began his career after graduating working for First Orion in Little Rock. In that role, he developed iOS and Android applications, and applied Machine Learning solutions to identify bad actors in telephony. Since 2017, he has worked as a software engineer for Apple, with a focus on Natural Language Processing.

Connor Anderson ’16 is employed by Take-Two Interactive, a computer gaming company, as a Senior Platform Engineer. This company publishes many popular computer games, including Civilization, BioShock, and Grand Theft Auto.

Lauren Irby ’13 began work at J.B. Hunt as a Systems Analyst after completing a Masters of Science in Mathematics at the University of Denver. She obtains and analyzes information pertaining to truck driver activity for the benefit of both the drivers and the business.

Winn Haynes ’11 is the Lead Data Scientist for SerImmune Inc. He focuses on developing data science tools to identify immune response signals within massive sets of data. He was hired after completing a PhD in Bioinformatics at Stanford University.

James Horey ’03 completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of New Mexico in 2009. After several years working as a researcher at Oak Ridge National Labs, he founded Reviewbox, a company specializing in software to help other companies make data-driven decisions about their products. As CEO of Reviewbox, he has hired two recent departmental graduates, Grace Thomasson ’18 and Mohammad Ali ’19 as software engineers.