Ellen Spertus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Professor
Ellen Spertus
Ph.D.
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Spertus in 2012
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| Born |
United States
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| Education |
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| Known for |
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| Spouse(s) | Keith Golden |
| Awards | Geek Alive, 2001 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | ParaSite: mining the structural information on the World-Wide Web (1998) |
| Doctoral advisor | Lynn Andrea Stein |
Ellen R. Spertus is an American computer scientist. She is a professor of computer science at Mills College in Oakland, California. She also worked as a senior research scientist at Google.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Ellen Spertus grew up in Glencoe, Illinois. She went to New Trier High School.
She studied at the MIT. There, she earned several degrees:
- A Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Computer Science and Engineering in 1990.
- A Master of Science (M.S.) in electrical engineering and computer science in 1992.
- A Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1998.
Her Ph.D. project was called ParaSite: mining the structural information on the World-Wide Web. This project focused on finding information hidden in the structure of websites.
Career in Computer Science
Ellen Spertus writes articles about both technical and social topics. Sometimes, she combines these two areas in her work.
In 1993, The New York Times newspaper featured her. They called her one of the "women who might change the face of the computer industry." They wrote about her again in 2003.
Working at Google
While at Google, Spertus worked on a project called App Inventor for Android. This is a special tool that helps people create apps for Android phones. It uses a system of "blocks" that you can put together, like building with LEGOs. This makes it easier for anyone, even beginners, to design apps.
In 2011, she helped write a book about this tool called App Inventor. She wrote it with David Wolber, Hal Abelson, and Liz Looney.
Other Work and Interests
Ellen Spertus also spent several summers working for Microsoft.
She was one of the few people who leased a General Motors EV1. This was an early electric car.
In 2014, she took a break from Mills College. She went back to work with Google to help develop Blockly. Blockly is another programming environment that uses visual blocks, similar to App Inventor.
Ellen Spertus is married to another computer scientist, Keith Golden.
