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Vern has worked on IBM midrange systems for over 30 years, beginning with the System/38 and AS/400. At present he is a senior software engineer for the Pest Elimination division of Ecolab. He serves on the COMMON Americas Advisory Council (CAAC) and SET and is one of the SMEs for Db2. He is also honored to have been named an IBM Champion for 2024. He is degreed in both music and mathematics, which gives him a distinct approach to the art and science of programming. In his spare time he participates in various musical pursuits. Most recently he directs a church choir, plays keyboard in the Zuhrah Shrine Flames big band and accordion in a weekly jazz workshop, and takes jazz piano lessons - quite a stretch!