My name is James Richardson and I am an Associate Professor at LaGuardia Community College and founding instructor for LaGuardia’s New Media Technology major. Founded back in 2001, the New Media Technology program was one of the first digital arts based programs within the City University of New York (CUNY) system. I served as Program Coordinator until 2014, and it is a where I still teach until this day.
For a number of years I also served as the Academic Director of the Communications and Media program at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS). The Communications and Media program was the first fully online program offered within CUNY. It is a four year online degree that offers an interdisciplinary focus on issues related to the convergence between new and traditional media.
Prior to transitioning to academia, I worked for a number of years in the fields of Information Technology and Interactive New Media. The majority of my early professional career was cultivated at MetLife where worked as a senior project manager and network designer in the Telecommunications department. During this time I was in charge of implementing voice and data technology to support the various lines of business that comprised MetLife’s 30,000-person workforce.
One of my major accomplishments at MetLife was spearheading the rollout of multiple Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) rings to enhance the digital infrastructure at MetLife’s corporate headquarters, major datacenters, and mission-critical locations . In layman’s terms, SONET can best be described as an ultra high speed network which can protect itself against service outages by intelligently rerouting traffic around problem areas. The implementation of this technology provided sophisticated disaster backup and recovery protection throughout the MetLife private corporate network and afforded the company the ability to conduct business even under the most extreme conditions.
While at MetLife I earned a Masters in Interactive Telecommunications from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. The Interactive Telecomunications Program (ITP) trained me in various aspects of Internet technology, gaming theory, digital audio and video production, e-commerce strategy, and web development. To this day I still maintain deep connections with the program and act as a graduate thesis advisor when the time permits.
Shortly after graduation from NYU, I was offered an opportunity to help develop an Internet startup company called Arc: eConsultancy. Arc was a pure Internet based consultancy firm dedicated to advising Fortune 500 companies on how to migrate their business models from brick and mortar operations to the Internet. For approximately two years I served as the Director of Implementation Architecture and managed the deployment of Internet initiatives for companies such as ADP (the nation’s leading payroll processing company) and Suze Orman Inc. (best selling author and financial commentator).
Currently, when I am not teaching or spending time with my family, I am either attending regional Comic-Cons or working on a number of private projects. Many of which focus on developing interactive applications to help motivate African American and other urban youth find their voice in the information age.