Shelly Hokanson first began building web sites as a college student in late 1994, when web page coding required walking uphill both ways barefoot in the snow. From those meager beginnings grew a career in web development and design emphasizing both technical proficiency and aesthetic flair. Shelly spent 10 years teaching web and graphic design at Prairie State College, a small college near Chicago, before moving to Virginia to join the ranks at JMU. She also does freelance web development, photography, and IT consulting.

Shelly earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in Computer Information Systems from Robert Morris College, Chicago, IL, and her Master of Education degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She also earned 42 undergraduate credits in photography and art from Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, IL, and is currently completing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Independent Film & Digital Imaging from Governors State University, University Park, IL.

Technical Interests: Web technologies, social media, and open source solutions (particularly PHP/MySQL and content management systems like WordPress, Drupal, and Joomla).

Creative Interests: Web and graphic design, portraiture and event photography, and online gaming. Research interests include pseudonymity and online identity development & management.