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Alex Keller, network analyst/system administrator in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, believes he has a "dream job." "I get to come in to work and play with a lot of expensive, fast toys, and do all kinds of cool things with them," he said. Of course, Keller's definition of "play" and "toys" might be quite different from most people. What he actually does is make sure that the college's network and servers -- computers with a large storage capacity that hold the college's Web pages -- are up and running. Not only does he enjoy it, he's also good at it. "Alex's incredible depth of knowledge in the area of computing, systems and networking extend the capabilities of the Computing Office in BSS dramatically," said Andrew Roderick, informational technology director for the college. "His work makes possible a range of services that are both essential and extend the productivity of a great many others." Maintaining the network is not a low-stress job. The college has fast servers and a rather open network, making it a frequent target of hackers. It's a job that requires persistence, flexibility and the skill to continually find new solutions. Keller, who has been a BSS staff member for five years, seems to thrive on the challenge even though it requires the tedious task of poring over daily security reports to see if any of the previous day's hacker attacks have exposed a chink in the network's protections. "It's always been exciting for me," said Keller. "I like to fix things. I like to see how things work." In addition to his work with the servers, Keller consults on other college technology issues and serves as the last line of defense when computer hard drives crash. "Alex has a unique idealism about solving problems in the sense that there are very few problems which he does not feel a responsibility to solve and there are very few problems he does not solve," Roderick said. For example, one faculty member brought a hard drive to Keller that was in very bad shape, and she had been told that there was little hope of recovering the data on it. After some tinkering, Keller realized that part of the problem was that the drive was overheating. He went out and bought a six pack of cold Cokes and used the cans to cool the drive. He was able to keep the drive cool enough to go in and recover more than 20,000 files. "It's a wonderful thing to call someone back and say I was able to recover your thesis, manuscript or grant proposal," he said. Keller began working in the college as a student assistant while earning a degree in political science from SFSU. He hadn't considered computers as a career focus, although they'd long been a hobby of his. He soon realized that he enjoyed working with computers so much that he applied for a job in tech support at the college. He went on to manage the college's computer labs, and then moved to his current position as network administrator. A San Francisco resident, Keller also enjoys backpacking in the Sierras and has recently rediscovered an interest in making hip-hop music. Please join us in congratulating Alex and thank him for making such a difference. As the STAR of the Month, Keller will enjoy four free lunches on campus, a free parking pass or equivalent in one month's public transportation costs, and more. He will also be eligible for the STAR of the Year award.
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