Doctor Jim Archibald, a Computer Engineering Professor, was nominated by the 2019 graduating seniors for the ‘Most Influential Faculty Award.’ In their exit survey, these seniors were asked which professor(s) inspired them, and Dr. Archibald was the most recommended throughout the department.
Matthew Wyman, a master’s student who researches with Dr. Archibald agreed with the nomination. He discussed how Dr. Archibald inspired him to pursue more education beyond an undergraduate degree.
Wyman said, “The only reason I even came to grad school was because of Dr. Archibald. I had no intentions of going to grad school because I didn’t want to do anything traditional-engineering. My original plan was to extend my undergrad to take a couple classes I was interested in taking. I went into his office and asked him about the classes. He suggested that I come and do research with him and do my master’s, so I did. It’s because of him.”
Michael Hinton, another graduate student who works closely with Dr. Archibald said, “The topic I'm researching isn't in Dr. Archibald's area of expertise or under any kind of funding, but he has been steering me in the right direction by providing valuable feedback. He's been a good sounding board and has helped me refine my thesis and research.”
Wyman and Hinton are just a couple of the many students who have been inspired by the time and care Dr. Archibald has given to his students. Dr. Archibald has been teaching at BYU for nearly 32 years.
“Dr. Archibald was willing to work with me and with my goals. It wasn’t ever about him. He was good at making sure we got what we wanted out of our research and he was there to support us. I really appreciate that because it worked out for me,” Wyman said.
Hinton added, “I really appreciate Dr. Archibald's encouragement. That has inspired me to push forward after not finishing my thesis on schedule. Had he been critical or condescending about my progress, I would have probably been too discouraged to believe I could actually complete it. While guiding me along the way, he has also shown a lot of patience in letting me eventually select a topic that I feel really good about. He never tried to force me to work on something that I wasn't invested in.”