You might remember the PostgreSQL East conference that took place this past April at Drexel University in Philadelphia. As part of the event, I and other conference leaders had dinner with the Drexel Computer Science Department Head, Jeremy Johnson. One item we discussed was our frustration at the limited academic adoption of Postgres, even though Postgres is better for education than many other databases used in academia. Jeremy seemed to understand our plight, and I gave him my business card in case I could help Drexel, perhaps by doing a guest lecture about Postgres.

Well, a month later, I got an email asking if I could teach a database course this summer; that was much more involvement than I anticipated. I thought about it for a week, asked a few people for advice, and decided to accept. I filled out the paperwork a few days ago so now I am officially a Drexel adjunct professor, at least for the summer. I have already created a web site for the class. (Much of that material was provided by the previous instructor.)

The class is a combined graduate/undergraduate class, with both traditional and online students. Classes start June 22 and last for ten weeks. Students will use Postgres exclusively for learning SQL, homework, and projects. I hope this class not only encourages more Postgres use at Drexel and among Drexel graduates, but also spurs other educational institutions to explore the benefits of incorporating Postgres into their curriculum.