Fan Profile: John O’Malley
Georgia Southern faculty member John O’Malley took along his True Blue spirit on his annual family hiking trek through the Appalachian Mountains. The College of Information Technology professor and his brother-in-law hiked nearly 100 miles during the weeklong trip, averaging anywhere from 10 to 20 miles per day this summer.
Although not a Georgia Southern graduate, O’Malley has a loyal True Blue spirit that has positively impacted the campus and the Statesboro community. During his five year career at the University, O’Malley has launched a web-design business for area businesses and organizations. Many of his web technology students have custom-designed more than 60 web sites free of charge.
“This benefits the community, but also the students working in a real-world situation. Its service learning at its finest,” he said. Some of the other classes that O’Malley teaches include a system acquisition course, detailing how firms acquire software, human/computer interaction in a web applications course, and online courses for the Web BSIT program, which gives students the ability to earn their IT degree completely online.
A self-described “green” environmental steward, O’Malley is often spotted riding around campus on his recumbent bike. The low-riding bike is designed to place riders in a reclining position while pedaling. For the past several years, O’Malley joins other commuting faculty members a few times a week by riding his recumbent bike on a 17-mile roundtrip to the University from home.
In addition to earning his Ph.D. in Management Science and Information Technology, O’Malley has also earned three masters degrees in the field, and he is currently working on a fourth – but this time in theology. True Blue runs in the O’Malley family: the professor’s three children attend Georgia Southern. Daughter Sarah is a senior fashion merchandising major; son Jack, a sophomore business major; and son Patrick, a high school senior, is presently taking two courses on campus.
