Mary Lou Soffa facts for kids
Mary Lou Soffa is an American computer scientist known for her amazing work with computers. She helps make computer programs work better and faster. She also designs the basic software that computers need to run smoothly.
She is also famous for helping more people get involved in computer science, especially women and minorities. She has been a leader on the CRA-W Board, which is a group that supports computer science research. She even helped start special programs like the CRA-W Graduate Cohort Program to help students succeed.
Quick facts for kids
Mary Lou Ehnot Soffa
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| Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh, Ohio State University |
| Known for | Work on programming languages and software engineering |
| Awards | Ken Kennedy Award (2012) ACM Fellow (1999) IEEE Fellow (2013) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer Science |
| Institutions | University of Virginia |
| Doctoral advisor | Gary Lindstrom |
| Doctoral students | |
Her Journey in Computer Science
Mary Lou Soffa studied Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh. She graduated with high honors. She then earned her master's degree in Mathematics from Ohio State University. Later, she got her highest degree, a Ph.D., in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1977, she started teaching at the University of Pittsburgh as a professor. She became a full professor in 1990. From 1990 to 1995, she was the Dean of Graduate Studies. This meant she helped lead all the graduate programs in the College of Arts and Sciences.
In 2004, she became the head of the Computer Science Department at the University of Virginia. She also became a special professor there. She has guided 32 students who were getting their highest degrees in computer science. Half of these students were women.
Helping Others in Tech
Mary Lou Soffa is a big supporter of getting more people into computer science. She works with the Computing Research Association (CRA). This group helps promote computer science research and education.
She was a co-chair for CRA-W from 2000 to 2003. CRA-W is a part of CRA that focuses on women in computing. With another scientist named Jan Cuny, she started two important programs.
One program is the CRA-W Graduate Cohort Program. It helps women who are studying computer science in graduate school. The other is the CRA-W Associate Professor Program. This program supports women who are becoming professors. These programs help more women succeed in computer science careers.
Awards and Recognition
Mary Lou Soffa has received many important awards for her work. In 2012, she won the Ken Kennedy Award. This award is given by two big computer science groups, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society. She received it at a major conference about high-performance computing.
Here are some of her other notable awards:
- ACM SIGSOFT Influential Educator Award in 2014
- ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Service Award in 2003
- ACM Fellow in 1999 (This means she is recognized as a top expert in her field by ACM.)
- IEEE Fellow in 2013 (This means she is recognized as a top expert in her field by IEEE.)
- Anita Borg Technical Leadership Award in 2011
- ACM SIGSOFT 2010 Distinguished Service Award in 2010
- Nico Habermann Award from the Computing Research Association in 2006
- Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in 2011
