Google engineer ‘in residence’ to lead course at Alabama A&M

Alabama A&M has a Googler on its teaching staff, courtesy of the software giant’s Google in Residence program.

Google announced the 10^th anniversary cohort of the program which includes 14 Googlers in Residence and partnering institutions across the U.S.

As part of this cohort, Google software engineer Joon Lee is the Googler in Residence and will teach an introductory Computer Science class at Alabama A&M this semester.

Lee, a Google software engineering team member out of Cambridge, Mass., specializes in Catzilla, a chaos engineering tool. He will instruct AAMU students on specific computer science skills needed to enter the workforce, including coding and debugging, data structures and effectively working with large code bases. Lee will also provide career advice and job interview prep and facilitate Google office visits.

“It is an honor to be a part of the Google in Residence program and have the ability to teach the younger generation valuable skills needed in today’s competitive job market,” said Lee. “Supporting diversity in the tech community and allowing experienced software engineers from across the country to have a voice is something Google should be proud of.”

Launched in 2013, the Google in Residence program aims to support increased diversity in the tech industry through partnerships with computer science departments at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic Serving Institutions to ensure students can gain the skills needed to succeed in tech post-graduation.

“I’m immensely proud that we have positively impacted more than 8,000 HBCU and HSI students through our Google in Residence program over the last decade,” said Google Chief Diversity Officer Melonie Parker. “We’re passionately working to build equity for HBCU and HSI students to ensure they have the skills they need to succeed in tech when they graduate and to support greater diversity in the tech industry.”

In its inaugural year, the program started with a single Googler leading a class of 83 students at a one university. A decade later, the program is offered at 14 HBCUs and HSIs across the country, serving more than 1,500 Black+, Latinx and Native+ students per year. Since its launch, the program has reached 8,000 students at HBCUs and HSIs.