The CRA Bulletin frequently shares news, timely information about CRA initiatives, and items of interest to the general community.
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The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society recently announced that former CRA and CRA-WP Board Member Margaret Martonosi is the recipient of the 2021 Eckert-Mauchly Award. She was cited for contributions to the design, modeling, and verification of power-efficient computer architecture. The Eckert-Mauchly Award is known as the computer architecture community’s most prestigious award
The Computing Research Association (CRA)—the nation’s premier member organization of academic departments, laboratories, and industry centers aimed at advancing computing research to change the world—seeks an inclusive, transparent, and enterprising leader to serve as its next Executive Director (ED).
CRA’s Education Committee (CRA-E) has recently selected its 2021 CRA-E Graduate Fellow – Nadia Ady from the University of Alberta.
After nearly 20 years at the helm of the Computing Research Association, Executive Director Andrew Bernat announced he will retire from his position as of September 1. Bernat joined CRA in 2002 and under his leadership the association has seen a dramatic, positive transformation, more than tripling in size and launching significant new efforts in research visioning, widening participation, and postgraduate support, while remaining the organization of record for computing research issues in Washington policy circles.
CRA, in consultation with NSF, has appointed five new members to the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council with terms starting on July 1.
Sven Koenig, University of Southern California
Chandra Krintz, University of California, Santa Barbara
William Regli, University of Maryland
Mona Singh, Princeton University
Ufuk Topcu, University of Texas at Austin
The recipient of the 2021- 2022 ACM Athena Lecturer Award is Ayanna Howard, Dean of The Ohio State University College of Engineering.
Her citation reads as follows:
For fundamental contributions to the development of accessible human-robotic systems and artificial intelligence along with forging new paths to broaden participation in computing through entrepreneurial and mentoring efforts.
To view the press release, please visit: https://awards.acm.org/about/2021-athena
Last year the IEEE announced the creation of the IEEE Frances E Allen medal, recognizing the contributions of Frances “Fran” E. Allen as an American computer scientist and pioneer in the field of optimizing compilers.
Nominations for this award are open now and are due by June 15. Please honor Fran Allen and outstanding members of our research community by submitting a nomination.
CRA has recently hired Kristi Kelly as a research associate for CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP). As part of the CERP team, Kristi’s responsibilities include management of IRB submissions, survey development, and data analysis and reporting.
This year’s class of newly elected members includes a record number of women, including former CRA-WP Board Member Anna Karlin. She is the Microsoft Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science at the University of Washington. She has been active in several CRA-WP activities including Grad Cohort, Virtual Undergraduate Town Hall, and Career Mentoring Workshops.
CRA has recently hired Elyse Okwu as a program associate for the Widening Participation (CRA-WP) committee. In this role, she leads and supports CRA-WP programs that focus on increasing the success and participation of underrepresented groups in computing research.
Prior to joining CRA-WP, Elyse worked as a research associate at Arizona State University to examine factors of persistence for women in STEM doctoral programs nationwide. At the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, she worked with INVESTING NOW to expose young women to engineering. Elyse is passionate about working with underserved populations to ensure that access and equity are attainable in their quest for education in STEM.
In June 2020, a community of Black people in computing from around the world published an open letter, initiated by the authors, and a call for action[b] to the global computing community. The letter began with, “The recent killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police has sparked a movement that began at the birth of our nation. Though George Floyd may have been the most recent instance, we should not forget the lives of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Nina Pop, Tony McDade, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Philando Castille, Tanisha Anderson, Atatiana Jefferson, Eric Garner, Charleena Lyles, Eula Love, Michael Brown, Khalif Browder, Botham Jean, Tamir Rice, Latasha Harlins, Amadou Diallo, Mary Turner, Emmett Till, and too many other Black people who have been murdered …”
CRA has recently hired Taniya Ross-Dunmore as a research assistant for CRA’s Center for Evaluating the Research Pipeline (CERP). In this role, she will assist in CERP’s research and evaluation projects and tasks. Taniya holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in psychology from Spelman College where she obtained experience in data collection and evaluation, research methods, psychometrics, and more.
Prior to joining the CRA CERP team, she worked as a registered behavioral technician for children with autism and aided in the facilitation of a program which aimed to increase young women of color in the STEM and art fields. In her free time, she enjoys painting, reading, and Netflix.
This week, CRA and CRA-WP Board Member Ayanna Howard was a guest on “The View” talk show.
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected 106 new members and 23 foreign members. Several computing researchers are among those elected this year, including those with CRA connections. Among them are Margaret Martonosi and Kunle Olukotun.
Inspire or encourage a student to try computer science, and let them know they belong. Together let’s change the face of computer science.
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) recently elected its 2021 Fellows. The AAAI Fellows program recognizes individuals who have made significant, sustained contributions — usually over at least a ten-year period — to the field of artificial intelligence. Three individuals involved with CRA were among those elected Fellows this year – Ayanna Howard, Chad Jenkins and Holly Yanco.
CRA welcomes Forrest Shull as a new Board Member. Shull is President of IEEE-CS and replaces Greg Byrd as one of the IEEE-CS representatives on the CRA Board, serving along with Leila De Floriani.
CRA welcomes Arvind Krishnamurthy as a new Board Member. Krishnamurthy is the Vice President of the USENIX Board of Directors and replaces Brian Noble as the USENIX representative on the CRA Board. Noble joined the CRA Board in 2017, and CRA thanks him for his term of service.
CRA Board Member Timothy Pinkston is featured in this week’s “People of ACM”. In the Q&A, Pinkston discusses topics such as what prompted him to establish his research group, deadlock-free adaptive routing techniques, the importance of CISE’s Expeditions in Computing program, and efforts to broaden participation in computing.
CRA welcomes Timothy M. Pinkston as a new Board Member. Pinkston replaces Mark D. Hill as an academic member on the Board. Hill recently moved into industry with a position at Microsoft as Partner Hardware Architect with Azure, requiring him to step down from the Board. We would like to thank Hill for his term of service on the CRA Board.
IEEE recently named its 2021 class of newly elevated Fellows. IEEE Fellow is a distinction reserved for select IEEE members whose extraordinary accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest are deemed fitting of this prestigious grade elevation. Several individuals involved with CRA have been elevated to Fellows.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently announced its 2020 Fellows. The honor recognizes diverse accomplishments, including pioneering research, leadership within a given field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations and advancing public understanding of science. Several individuals involved with CRA have been elected Fellows.
Numerous events of 2020 have placed a national spotlight on the inequities and inequalities that are present in K-16 education and society at large. In this conversation, Dr. Nicki Washington discusses how her personal journey in computing influenced her research on identity in computing, including the development of her “Race, Gender, Class, and Computing” course and why “teaching is political.”
Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council member William “Bill” Gropp has been voted IEEE Computer Society 2021 president-elect and will serve as president in 2022!
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society (IEEE CS) have named CRA Board Member Vivek Sarkar of Georgia Institute of Technology as the recipient of the 2020 ACM/IEEE CS Ken Kennedy Award. Sarkar is recognized for “foundational technical contributions to the area of programmability and productivity in parallel computing, as well as leadership contributions to professional service, mentoring, and teaching.”
CRA Board Member and CCC Chair Emeritus Mark D. Hill recently held a virtual presentation to CRA staff on “How Computing May Change Our World.” The talk is a great introduction on current topics facing computing and is approachable for audiences who do not have a computer science background. Much of the work discussed is based on visioning work Hill collaborated on when he was Chair of the CCC.
Undergraduate computing departments have long suffered from issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). However, there has been, to date, no large-scale effort that focuses on addressing issues of systemic racism and bias that directly impact not only students from minoritized groups, but also faculty (as issues of race, gender, and intersectionality impact hiring, […]
Former CRA Board Member, Moshe Vardi from Rice University will present “Lessons from COVID-19: Efficiency vs Resilience,” as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) Distinguished Lecture series on September 17, 2020 from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM ET.
The National Science Board (NSB) has named computer scientist and disability advocate Richard Ladner as the 2020 recipient of its Public Service Award. This award is granted to individuals and groups that have contributed substantially to increasing public understanding of science and engineering.
CRA is sad to report that former CRA and CRA-W Board Member Frances “Fran” Allen passed away yesterday. Fran spent her career advancing the field of computing and inspired generations of technologists. She was a computing pioneer – the first woman to receive the A.M. Turing Award (2006) and the first woman to be named an IBM Fellow in 1989. Fran served as a speaker for CRA-W’s Discipline-Specific Mentoring program in 2008 and Career Mentoring Workshop in 2005.
