February 27, 2003

Staff profile: Adam Finlayson

Title: Web developer, University Relations

What do you do? A little bit of everything. The main function of University Relations’ Web Communications group is to work with other departments in creating or redesigning their Web sites. We try to make them easier to maintain and use. I come in after the design phase, take the concept and turn it into reality. I build the actual templates and pages that make up the Web site, then I train the people who will administer and maintain the site on a daily basis. I also help brand and add functionality to existing Web services. For example, I administer the search engine of the Northwestern home page. I helped write code for the ph directory and I’m currently working on a redesign of the Web e-mail gateway with Information Technology.

How did you get into the Web? I was a bored freshman in college and one day I picked up a copy of HTML for Dummies. I read it and immediately put together my first Web site. So I kept doing it from there. It was the best $40 I ever spent.

Where did you go to college? I received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science in 2001 from Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa…not to be confused with the Ivy League Cornell. But I don’t mind when people do mix them up. I then started here at Northwestern just two weeks after graduation.

What do you like about the Web work? The most gratifying part is helping people learn to run their sites after the build is over. It’s a bit intimidating at first, but we really feel like we can empower anyone at the University to maintain their own Web site.

What do you do when you’re not staring into a computer? I read as much as I can; I’m in the University Relations book group. And I love to cook. It gets eyes rolling, but I’m also a big wrestling fan. That’s WWF-style, the real kind, not Greco-Roman.

Any suggestions? For a book: Eva Moves the Furniture, by Margot Livesey. It’s a mother-daughter relationship story, but I think men can easily identify with it. For making pancakes: Using your original pancake recipe, try mixing half flour with half corn meal. They’ll come out fluffy, but with a little extra texture and crispness.

— Stephen Anzaldi