Joe Norton ’13

Joe Norton ’13 belongs to a family of Franciscan University alums. He’s one of eight to attend, and one of six who have already graduated. In addition, he’s one of four who have graduated with a computer information science major. Joe minored in business management. It’s a combination that he describes as essential given his career as a software engineer with the asset management firm T. Rowe Price in Baltimore.

“As someone who has always enjoyed learning more about the field of finance, it’s a great opportunity for continued growth in that field as I use my experience in software development to help analysts and portfolio managers make decisions with the assets we manage,” says Joe.

“Franciscan provided a great foundation for software and business,” he says. “My business classes were especially essential for me, since my career involves so much more than just pumping out code; the software decisions made each day need to be made with a greater understanding of business requirements.”

Joe says that his professors at Franciscan encouraged him to go beyond the classroom, to take on side projects, studies, and internships that proved critical in his search for a job outside the University.

“I had two summer internships at Public Broadcasting Service in Arlington, Virginia,” says Joe.

“These internships were spent working with the Product Development team on a variety of tasks related to their web/mobile products. It was extremely formative for me to be able to apply the things I had learned in a classroom to real-life situations. All of a sudden, things like ‘duck typing’ and ‘inheritance’ and ‘indexes’ were actually useful.”

In addition to academics, Joe also cites his membership in one of the University’s households as extremely influential.

“The brothers helped form me into the man I am today,” he says. “Franciscan provided a solid understanding of who I am, both as an individual and as a member of the greater body of Christ. This self-understanding affects how I approach every single day.”