After graduating from high school in Small Town America (Stigler, Oklahoma) Jay entered Oklahoma State University. When funds ran short his sophomore year, Jay accepted a job as night-time computer operator in the university Computer Center. While working on his degree, Jay took every computer course offered by the university and gained three years experience in computer operations. In four years he earned a Bachelor Degree in Mathematics and Statistics with a minor in Industrial Engineering.
Jay started work on his Masters at the University of Arkansas where he studied Industrial Engineering with a specialty in Operations Research. Operations Research is a curriculum of IE which focuses on improving a company’s operational efficiencies and processes. After completing his first year and marrying his life-partner, Nancy, Jay left UofA to pursue a career in computer science. Three years later, while serving as Computer Operations Manager for McCall Manufacturing in Manhattan, Kansas (Redbook and McCall Magazine as well as dress patterns) , Jay invited the head of the Computer Science Department at Kansas State University to serve on the McCall’s IT Steering Committee. A year and a half later, after much cajoling and encouragement, Jay accepted a Teaching Assistantship, a grant from the University’s Department of Agriculture to develop a computer simulation model for optimizing the growth of Grain Sorghum at the field level, and a night-time teaching assignment to teach computer science at Fort Riley while he completed his course work. Twelve months later, Jay earned his Masters Degree in Computer Science with a minor in Industrial Engineering from Kansas State University.