Valerie Taylor (computer scientist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Valerie E. Taylor
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| Born | May 24, 1963 |
| Education | Purdue University, B.S., computer and electrical engineering 1985; M.S., electrical engineering, 1986; University of California at Berkeley, Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering and computer science, 1991 |
| Known for | Work in high performance computing |
| Awards | Pathbreaker Award from the Women in Leadership at Northwestern University Hewlett Packard Harriett B. Rigas Education Award A. Nico Habermann Award Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecture; Lua error in Module:Wd at line 1782: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). (Q21020802) MOBE Influencers and Innovators of the Internet and Technology |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Texas A&M University, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering; Northwestern University, professor of electrical and computer engineering |
Valerie Elaine Taylor (born May 24, 1963) is an amazing American computer scientist. She leads the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. This is a big research center!
Valerie Taylor studies how computers work best. She looks at how fast they run, how much power they use, and how reliable they are. She is famous for creating "Prophesy." This is a special database that helps predict how well different computer programs will run on very powerful computer systems.
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Valerie Taylor's Early Life and Education
Valerie Elaine Taylor was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 24, 1963. Her dad, Willie Taylor, was an electrical engineer. He often took his kids to work with him on Saturdays.
How Valerie Got Interested in Science
Valerie says her dad's job sparked her interest in science. She learned about building circuit boards and soldering. These early experiences helped her choose a career in science.
While in high school, Valerie spent her Saturdays at the Illinois Institute of Technology. She also spent her summers in different STEM programs. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.
College and Advanced Degrees
Valerie went to Purdue University. She earned her first degree in computer and electrical engineering in 1985. She then got her master's degree in electrical engineering in 1986.
In 1991, Valerie earned her PhD (a very high degree) from the University of California, Berkeley. Her PhD was in electrical engineering and computer science. She even has a patent for her work on sparse matrices. This means she invented something new and officially owns the idea!
Valerie Taylor's Career and Research
After getting her PhD, Valerie Taylor quickly started making a name for herself. In 1993, she received a special award called the NSF National Young Investigator Award.
Working at Universities
Valerie was a professor at Northwestern University for 11 years. She taught in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department.
From 2003 to 2011, she worked at Texas A&M University. There, she led the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. She focused on High Performance Computing. This means working with super-fast computers.
At Texas A&M, she also helped start a program. This program connected university researchers with companies. It helped them work together on new ideas.
Leading at Argonne National Laboratory
Valerie worked with Argonne National Laboratory for many years. She even spent a summer there in 2011. Since July 3, 2017, she has been the director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division at Argonne.
At Argonne, she helped write an important report for the U.S. Department of Energy. This report was all about how AI can be used in science.
Supporting Diversity in Tech
Valerie Taylor is also the CEO and President of the Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in IT (CMD-IT). This group works to help more minorities and people with disabilities get involved in technology jobs in the United States.
CMD-IT hosts an event called the Tapia Conference. This conference brings together computer scientists from groups that are often underrepresented. They share their research, find mentors, and connect with others.
New Projects and Funding
Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy gave almost $54 million for new projects. These projects are about designing and making microelectronics. Valerie Taylor will lead one of these big projects at the Argonne National Laboratory.
Awards and Honors for Valerie Taylor
Valerie Taylor has received many awards. These awards recognize her amazing research, her leadership, and her efforts to make computing more diverse. She has written or co-written over 100 papers. These papers are mostly about high performance computing. They focus on how to analyze and predict the performance of parallel scientific programs.
Valerie is a member of IEEE. In 2013, she was named an IEEE Fellow. This was for her work in making parallel computing applications run better. In 2016, she became a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. This honor was for her leadership in helping more people get into computing.
In 2019, she received a very special award. She was named an Argonne Distinguished Fellow. Only about three percent of researchers at Argonne get this award!
Her awards include:
- Richard A. Tapia Achievement Award for Scientific Scholarship, Civic Science, and Diversifying Computing
- Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni Award from the University of California, Berkeley
- MOBE Influencers and Innovators of the Internet and Technology
- Hewlett-Packard Harriet B. Rigas Education Award
- Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer
- A. Nico Habermann Award
- AccessComputing Capacity Building Award
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Valerie Taylor
