Ben Mills-Cannon: Class of 2003

Even though I pursued a career in technology, my various social studies teachers and their lessons had the most lasting impact on my personal and professional growth. Ben Mills-Cannon

Beyond PTS

Ben Mills-Cannon graduated from Phoenix High School in 2003 before earning a BS in Computer Science from Linfield College in 2007. After a brief break from the tech industry to work at an independent bookstore in Portland, he began his career in mobile app development in 2011. Over the next several years, he worked for various tech companies before joining eBay in 2016. At eBay, Ben earned two promotions and was offered an opportunity to help build a new development team overseas. Since 2023, he has been living in the Netherlands, working as part of a 10-person engineering team responsible for creating new features for the eBay iOS and Android apps – platforms that serve 134 million users worldwide and facilitate approximately 2 billion transactions every day.

Love for PTS

"Even though I pursued a career in technology, my various social studies teachers and their lessons had the most lasting impact on my personal and professional growth. Mrs. Mary-Beth Munroe was my Core teacher at Talent Middle School, and she laid the crucial foundations in reading, writing, history, and critical thinking that I use every day. At Phoenix High School, Mr. Larry Conley and Mrs. Judy Entinger helped me structure my thoughts and write with clarity so that my communication is clear and impactful. I use these skills every day when I coordinate with colleagues all around the world through Slack, email, or Zoom call presentations. Finally, Mr. John Cornet brushed the cobwebs off stuffy old history books and made the story of the United States something worth learning. He took facts and dates, battles and treaties, atrocities and mercies, and helped his students understand the why, not just the what or when. With the shape of the world today, I am more thankful than ever that I learned to study history in order to better understand the present."