Paula Hawthorn facts for kids

Paula Birdwell Hawthorn (born 1943) is an American computer scientist. She is known as a leader in database systems. She also started groups for women in computer science. She created programs to help students in this field.

Early Life and Education

Paula Hawthorn was born in 1943 in Oklahoma City. She moved a lot as a child. She lived in Oklahoma, California, Texas, and Indiana. She earned her first degree in math from the University of Houston. She wanted to be a math teacher. However, she was involved in a civil rights protest. This meant she could not teach at that time. In 1965, she took a computer course. She became very interested in computer programming.

She completed her math degree. Then she worked at Texaco on credit card systems. She left this job when her children were born. She wanted to return part-time, but it was not allowed. So, she went back to school. She joined a graduate program at the University of Houston. She finished her master's degree in 1974. Her thesis was about how a CDC 6600 computer performed.

Her supervisor encouraged her to apply for PhD programs. She earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. This was from the University of California, Berkeley in 1979. Her research was about how relational databases work best. While studying, she worked with Michael Stonebraker. She was a key part of the INGRES project. After graduating, she worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Career in Computer Science

Paula Hawthorn worked at Hewlett-Packard as a manager. Then she joined a new database company called Britton-Lee. There, she became the Vice President of Engineering. This company was one of the first to create special database systems. These systems were for client/server applications. She studied how different computer processors worked with databases.

When Britton-Lee faced problems, she returned to HP. Later, she was hired as Vice President at Illustra. After Illustra was bought by another company, she stayed for a short time. Then she looked for new opportunities. She was hired by Informix. In 1997, she joined Andromedia. This company was later bought by Macromedia. She helped combine Andromedia's technology with another system. She also gave software systems to UC Berkeley.

By 2002, Paula Hawthorn was semi-retired. She worked part-time as a consultant. She also served on various committees. These included groups at the ACM.

Awards and Recognition

• 1996 EECS Distinguished Alumni Award from UC Berkeley. This award recognized her achievements.

Personal Life and Advocacy

Paula Hawthorn married her first husband during her college years. Their first child was born in 1969. Their second child was born 16 months later. She later met and married her second husband, Mike Ubell. This was during her PhD studies.

Hawthorn was involved in the search for Jim Gray. He was a computer scientist who went missing while sailing.

Helping Others in Tech

Paula Hawthorn has always been active in helping others. This started with her involvement in civil rights. She strongly supports women in science and engineering. She started groups for women at Berkeley. She also started groups at LBNL and HP. She was the first president of Berkeley's Women in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (WiCSE). This group was founded in 1979.

As an older student and single parent, she faced challenges at Berkeley. Computer science was becoming a more recognized field. It had limited spots and funding. These were not always easy for women to get. To create more chances for students from diverse backgrounds, Hawthorn helped create a special program. This program helped students take classes. It increased their chances of getting into graduate programs. She also worked on programs to introduce students to technology jobs. Hawthorn believes in affordable childcare. This is especially important for student parents.

Community Involvement

Paula Hawthorn is also involved in her community. She is the President of Soldiers Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Oakland. She is also a Co-Chair of the Oakland/Alameda County Chapter of the Brady Campaign. This group works to prevent gun violence. She is a member of the Coalition for Police Accountability. She serves on the Oakland Community Policing Advisory Board.

Hawthorn is a board member of Make Oakland Better Now! She is also on the board of Earthworks. She supported a project by the Rainforest Action Network. It was called REVEL: The Art of Activism.