Shaundra Daily facts for kids

Shaundra Bryant Daily (born May 29, 1979) is an American professor and author. She is known for her work in human-centered computing. This field focuses on how people interact with computers. She also works to help more students get involved in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Dr. Daily is a professor at Duke University. She teaches in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science.

Early Life and Education

When Shaundra Daily was growing up, she loved math and science. She also enjoyed dancing and gymnastics. She earned her first college degree, a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Engineering, from Florida State University in 2001.

She then went on to get her Master of Science (M.S.) degree from Florida A&M University in 2003. Later, she earned two more degrees, an S.M. (2005) and a Ph.D. (2010), from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At the MIT Media Lab, she studied how computers can understand human feelings. This is called Affective Computing. She also worked on how people learn with technology.

Career Highlights

After finishing her studies at MIT, Dr. Daily became an assistant professor at Clemson University. She worked in the Human-Centered Computing Division. She was later promoted to associate professor and helped lead the division.

One of Dr. Daily's interesting projects at Clemson involved using dance to teach computer programming. Students used a special kind of block programming to create dance moves for characters in a virtual world. The goal of this research was to encourage more girls and women to get interested in computer science and engineering.

In 2015, Dr. Daily joined the University of Florida. She was an associate professor there before moving to Duke University. At Duke, she is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She also helps lead programs that support diversity and fairness in education. For example, she is the Faculty Director of the Duke Technology Scholars Program. She works to make sure everyone has a chance to learn and succeed in technology.

Dr. Daily's work has been shared in many places. She was featured in news articles for her unique way of teaching programming with dance. She also appeared on the PBS web series The Secret Life Of Scientists And Engineers. On this show, she was featured alongside famous scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Mayim Bialik.

Awards and Recognitions

Dr. Shaundra Daily has received many awards for her important work:

• 2023 Association for Computing Machinery Karl V. Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award (with A. Nicki Washington)
• 2022 Black STEM Leader, recognized by Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina
• 2020 Undergraduate Mentor of the Year, Duke University
• 2015 Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning Early Career Research Award from the American Education Research Association
• 2015 Delta Alpha Pi, Extraordinary Educator Award for helping students with disabilities
• 2013 BDPA Most Promising Technologist Epsilon Award
• 2013 Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Emerging Scholar