The People in your Neighborhood--Bob Quinney

A Detroit native, Bob Quinney and his 100-pound, Standard Poodle named Spider currently live in Ventura Village in Minneapolis. His home, originally built in the 1880s, has been quite the project.

"I stripped the house to the studs when I bought it and put it all back together," Bob said. "I've built everything myself, including cabinets and replacement windows. It has taken eight years and I'm almost done."

When Bob isn't working on his house, he enjoys reading, watching movies, gardening, and knitting. He also loves to spend time with Spider.



"People always stop us on the street and ask what kind of dog he is," Bob said. "He makes quite an impression."

Bob has a Bachelors of Science in psychology from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He also has taken numerous courses in art at Tennessee Technical University and the University of Minnesota. "I've probably taken enough to get another degree, but I haven't gotten one yet," Bob said.

Bob first started working at the University in December of 1997 in what was then called the Institute for Linguistics and Asian and Slavic Languages. During Bob's time at the University, he has moved around a few times and even left the U to pursue a job at another company.

In 2001, Bob joined the Scheduling Team in the Office of Classroom Management (OCM) for two years before moving to the Department of Art. However, he came back to OCM in 2005. Bob is now the Analyst and System Administrator for OCM's current scheduling system, R25.

However, as OCM transitions from R25 to Astra Schedule, Bob's work will remain much the same. "I focus primarily on ensuring that the interface between R25 and PeopleSoft stays in sync," Bob said. He will continue to make sure the system is up and running, monitor error logs, perform basic system maintenance, and be supervisor to two employees.

Before the U, Bob had a few interesting jobs, including for a tree cutting service company in Michigan. "I worked at this job when Detroit's elm trees were hit with Dutch Elm disease," Bob said. "It was tragic to have to cut down all these huge old trees with the disease."

Bob also worked at a gas utility company, which introduced him to the world of computers. "This was during the time when office computers were just getting introduced so the computer was the size of a table," Bob said.

And here's one interesting fact about Bob you probably never knew: Bob is also an avid singer.

He used to sing with a men's group at Wayne State University. They even sang at Westminster Abbey in London when they went on tour in Europe for a competition. They came in third place.

Bob's Bytes
1. His favorite movies are "Truly, Madly, Deeply" and "Lars and the Real Girl."
2. If Hollywood made a movie about his life, he would have Johnny Depp play him because "he's bizarre enough."
3. Bob has three sisters and one brother.
4. If Bob could be anything, he would be a migratory bird because there's "nothing better than flying."
4. Sly and the Family Stone was his first concert. The ticket cost $4.
5. When Bob was younger, he wanted to be a dentist. Now, Bob's biggest fear is going to the dentist.
6. Mumford & Sons is Bob's favorite musical artist.
7. Bob would love to have the superpower to make people disappear. "I guess I'd be an evil superhero," Bob joked.
8. The last book he read was called Wire to Wire by Scott Sparling.
9. Bob's favorite book is I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb.
10. If he could be a character for one day, he would be Atreyu from book The Neverending Story.