Dan Olsen facts for kids

Dan R. Olsen Jr. (born June 22, 1953) is an American computer scientist. He focused on how people use computers (called human–computer interaction) and how information is organized and used (called information science). He worked at Brigham Young University from 1984 until he retired in 2015. He was also in charge of the computer science department there from 1992 to 1996. For a short time, he was the first director of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Learning and School

Dan R. Olsen Jr. studied computer science at Brigham Young University. He earned his first degree (Bachelor of Science) in 1976 and a master's degree in 1978. Later, he got his PhD in computer and information science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1981.

His Work and Research

In 1981, Dan Olsen started working as a professor at Arizona State University. In 1984, he moved to Brigham Young University. There, he became a full professor in 1990. He led the Computer Science Department from 1992 to 1996. He also directed a special lab called the Interactive Computing Everywhere (ICE) Laboratory.

During his time at Brigham Young, he also worked at Carnegie Mellon University. He was the first director of their Human-Computer Interaction Institute from 1996 to 1998. He retired from his work in 2015. His main research was about making computers easier for people to use and understanding how information works.

Awards and Honors

In 2006, Olsen was chosen as a special member (called a fellow) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). This was because of his important work on how people use computer interfaces. He was also the very first editor of the ACM's journal, ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). He is a member of the CHI Academy and received the CHI Lifetime Research Award in 2012. This award recognized his many years of important research.

Books He Wrote

Dan Olsen wrote several books about how to design computer systems that are easy for people to use. Here are some of them:

• Building Interactive Systems: Principles for Human-Computer Interaction (2009)
• Developing user interfaces: ensuring usability through product & process (1993)
• User Interface Management Systems: Models and Algorithms (1992)