I Am a Mainframer: Geoffrey Decker on Teaching Mainframe Skills and Building the Next Generation

Join host Steven Dickens in this August episode of I Am a Mainframer featuring Geoffrey Decker, instructor at Northern Illinois University, as he shares how he has spent more than 24 years teaching assembler, COBOL, and foundational mainframe skills to thousands of students.With back-to-school season in full swing, Geoffrey discusses why teaching mainframe fundamentals matters, how students react when they first encounter assembler and 3270-style environments, and why hands-on learning with tools like ISPF, VS Code, IntelliJ, and Zowe helps prepare them for real careers.He also explores the ongoing debate around the mainframe skills gap, the strong career outcomes his students are seeing, and why he believes employers should do more to recognize the talent already coming out of universities and training programs.From student success stories and curriculum challenges to AI’s role in documenting legacy systems, this episode highlights the value of a proven academic pipeline and the importance of keeping mainframe education relevant for the future.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe for more conversations from Mainframe Connect and the I Am a Mainframer series.#IAmAMainframer #MainframeConnect #OpenMainframeProject #BackToSchool #MainframeEducation #Assembler #COBOL #NIU #TechCareers