Our Team

Dr. Charles Linville is the President of Ploughman Analytics. During his 20 years of work in the computer industry, he saw a growing need for more advanced methods of retrieving and analyzing business data. He founded Ploughman Analytics to offer intelligence tools and services that will help clients make better business decisions.

Dr. Linville has held positions with International Business Machines, the Consortium for International Earth Science Information Network, American University and Archer Daniels Midland. He has taught in university departments of computer science and information systems, environmental studies and public administration, and has presented at the National Academy of Sciences, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Rodney Barnett, Senior Computer Scientist, earned a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics and an M.S. in Computer Science from Oklahoma State University. He has over 20 years of programming experience, including a recent period with the Research Division of Archer Daniels Midland. His areas of expertise include the acquisition and integration of data from disparate sources, combinatorial optimization in location analysis, applications for process control and configuration, applications for managing and accessing competitive intelligence, distributed full-text retrieval systems, expertise systems, and applications for processing and managing various scientific data in areas such as molecular biology and fermentation.

Dr. Deborah Swanson joined Ploughman in January 2010. She is Ploughman’s Vice President of Business Development and Senior Scientist. She previously held research positions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the National Human Genome Research Institute of the NIH, and Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Swanson has Bachelor degrees in Biology and Computer Science from Brown University and a Ph.D. in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins.

Max Burnette, Computer Scientist, is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Computer Science. Max served as an intern with Ploughman Analytics for two years before becoming a full-time member of the team. His expertise covers a range of technical areas, with a particular focus on geographic information systems and web development. He also has experience in analysis of large datasets and VisualBasic for Applications.

Sierra Peters, Project Manager, is the newest addition to the team and a student at the University of Illinois. In her duties as project manager, Ms. Peters plans, organizes, and secures resources necessary for Ploughman Analytics to successfully complete its projects. She assists in the sales and marketing of Ploughman’s products and services, and serves as a voice for the client with respect to the usability and quality of Ploughman’s offerings. Ms. Peters also contributes to assimilating and verifying data in response to client needs, executing data management procedures, and producing custom map products using geographic information systems.