06 Aug Neil McCurdy, PhD

Hi! I am the principal of The School for Entrepreneurship & Technology. This is my 17th year teaching, my 13th year as an administrator, and my 8th year as the Principal of SET High. I have been thinking about education reform for a long time and it was just as I started to formalize my ideas for what an ideal school would look like that I discovered that there were others who shared my same vision. I joined the SET team just as the charter was being approved in June of 2010.

I received a Bachelor’s degree in computer science from UCSD, worked as a computer programmer and division head at Infotech Systems Management until 2001, and then returned to UCSD to join the doctoral program in the Computer Science Department, where I studied Ubiquitous Computing with my advisor, Bill Griswold. I was awarded a Ph.D. for my research in Ubiquitous Video which culminated in the creation of an application called RealityFlythrough that allows people to use a video-game-like immersive interface to explore the world live and in real-time.

I began my teaching career at High Tech High where I learned not only how to make my classes fun, but relevant as well. I have fond memories of my time at High Tech High and miss my students and colleagues dearly.

I first met my wife in high school in New Delhi, India. We re-met five years later here in the U.S., married, and now have three adorable kids. Collette is 21, Ian is 18, and Annalise is 15. Ask me about my kids. I can talk about them incessantly.

I have a ton of interests outside of education, computers and my family. My wife and I love to travel and go on frequent long camping trips in our pop-up trailer. I love playing sports and now satisfy that passion by coaching my kids’ soccer teams. I also love to do construction and remodeling projects on our house. Above all, I love learning, discovery, and inquiry, and I love infecting my students with this same bug.