February/March 2016
Volume 6, Issue 1
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Welcome to the February/March issue of the CMD-IT eNewsletter!
In honor of Black History Month we highlight the contributions of Clarence "Skip" Ellison, the first African-American to earn a Ph.D in computing. We also introduce you to Telle Whitney, President and CEO of ABI, in our Meet the Board of Directors series and feature President Obama's CS for All initiative in our Education Corner.
To include any job opening or event in our Community Calendar for the April/May 2016 e-newsletter, please contact Heather Berry.
Best regards,
CMD-IT Leadership
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Dr. Clarence "Skip" Ellis
First Black Ph.D. in Computer Science
In honor of February being Black History month, we are recognizing Dr. Clarence "Skip" Ellis, the first African-American to earn a Ph.D. in computer science. Skip earned his doctoral degree from University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign in 1969; his advisor was David Muller. He was also the first African-American to be elected Fellow of the ACM (1998) and very active in the ACM Special Interest Group on Office Information Systems (SIGOIS). Dr. Ellis was a pioneer in the field of computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) and groupware. Skip also participated in the early Tapia Conferences, providing his insights about the promotion and tenure process.
After completing his Ph.D., Skip worked at
Bell Labs
from 1969 to 1972 in applied probability. In 1972, Skip became an assistant professor, and a founding member of the computer science department, at the University of Colorado Boulder to work on operating systems research. He also held faculty positions in EECS at MIT to work on research related to the ARPANET and Stanford University and Xerox PARC to work
on the icon-based GUI, object-oriented programming languages, and groupware systems. He left Xerox PARC and Stanford University in the mid-1980s to lead the Groupware Research Group at the
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation
(MCC).
In the early 1990s, Dr. Ellis left MCC to become the Chief Architect of the FlowPath workflow product of Bull S.A. in
France
. In 1992, Dr. Ellis returned to the University of Colorado Boulder as a full professor in the computer science department and continued his work on groupware
. In 2009, he became an emeritus professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Clarence "Skip" Ellis passed away in 2014, having made significant contributions to the field of computing.
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Computer Science for All
Earlier this year the White House announced President Obama's bold new initiative
CS for All
. The goals of the initiative are to equip students from kindergarten through high school with computational thinking skills to enable them to be creators in our digital economy and be active citizens in our technology-driven world. As technology is driving business across sectors, educators and business leaders recognize that computer science is the "new basic" skill for economic opportunity and social mobility.
"As a community, computer science researchers and educators have made important strides in the last decade that have created the foundation for the CS for All Initiative,"
says Jim Kurose, head of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation (NSF). "
We're now at the point that we as a Nation can make rigorous computer science education available to all our students."
The CS for All initiative calls for:
- Providing $4 billion in funding for states, and $100 million directly for districts in his forthcoming Budget to increase access to K-12 CS by training teachers, expanding access to high-quality instructional materials, and building effective regional partnerships. The funding will allow more states and districts to offer hands-on CS courses across all of their public high schools, get students involved early by creating high-quality CS learning opportunities in elementary and middle schools, expand overall access to rigorous science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) coursework, and ensure all students have the chance to participate, including girls and underrepresented minorities.
- Starting the effort this year, with more than $135 million in investments by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), to support and train CS teachers who are the most critical ingredient to offering CS education in schools. The agencies will make these investments over five years using existing funds.
- Calling on even more Governors, Mayors, education leaders, CEOs, philanthropists, creative media and technology professionals, and others to get involved.
According to the White House, the funds would give states and districts the resources to train both existing and new teachers to teach CS, build effective regional collaborations, and expand access to high-quality learning materials and online learning options. States and districts could use these funds to provide access to CS courses to every high school student within five years, create a progression of CS learning experiences in elementary and middle schools, and ensure additional support and resources for students traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields.
The NSF has been a tireless pioneer in the effort to increase exposure to CS at the K-12 level. "At the K-12 level, NSF-supported efforts to broaden participation and strengthen education in computing are tightly linked, resulting in new high school computer science courses and models of professional development designed from the beginning with equity in mind," said Jan Cuny, NSF Program Director for Computing Education. "They have demonstrated success in engaging all students with hands on, project-based, relevant, and inspiring computer science."
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SC16 Student Volunteer Program
Accepting Applications
Applications are now being accepted for the Student Volunteers program at the SC16 conference to be held in Salt Lake City. SC16 is the premier international conference for high performance computing, networking, data storage and analysis.
For SC16, the Student Volunteers program will accept an increased number of students, both local and international, with the goal of transitioning students into the main conference by way of the Technical Program, Doctoral Showcase and Early Career professional development sessions. Although limited financial support will be available to cover some travel costs, applicants will also need to ask their home institutions for help.
The application deadline is Wednesday, June 1, 2016.
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Tapia 2016 Conference Deadlines |
Meet the Board of Directors
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Telle Whitney
CMD-IT Board Member
Dr. Telle Whitney joined the Anita Borg Institute in 2002. As the President and CEO of the organization, she has led it's substantial growth and impact. The Anita Borg Institute brings women technologists together to learn, celebrate, and thrive through events such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, the Women of Vision awards, and the Top Company awards. In addition, the Anita Borg Institute conducts research on recommendations to retain women in computing. Dr. Whitney has held senior technical management positions with Malleable Technologies and Actel Corporation, and co-founded the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference. She serves on the advisory boards of Caltech's Information Science and Technology, California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, and Illuminate Ventures.
Dr. Whitney has received numerous awards including the ACM Distinguished Service award, CRA's A Nico Habermann Award for her role in founding and sustaining NCWIT, and an honorary degree from CMU. Telle received her Ph.D. from Caltech, and her bachelor's degree at the University of Utah, both in Computer Science.
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Are you looking for ways to help support and engage with underrepresented minorities persons with disabilities in computing? Consider giving to CMD-IT!
Our programs work directly with these great communities and provide professional development to help support their career aspirations. Your donation would directly support the retention of underrepresented individuals in computing.
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