Lori Pollock, professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Delaware, has been selected as a “distinguished scientist” by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society. The advanced member grade level of distinguished member was created in 2006 to recognize ACM professionals who have achieved significant accomplishment or impact in the computing field as an educator, engineer or scientist. Only the top 10 percent of ACM members achieve this elite designation.
Pollock, who joined UD in 1991, has an acknowledged reputation for her research in both compilers and software engineering, particularly in advanced optimizing compiler technology for parallel computing systems, and automated techniques and tools for testing and maintenance of web applications, object-oriented systems and parallel software.
Pollock’s research has been funded through 15 National Science Foundation and six other agency research grants totaling more than $6.5 million. Her findings have been documented in more than 100 refereed papers and many invited conference presentations.
She currently serves as associate editor for the ACM journal, Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM).
An advocate for equity, Pollock has devoted much of her career to broadening participation of women and minorities in computing. As a member of the Computing Research Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in Computing (CRA-W) since 1994, she has organized many career mentoring and graduate cohort workshops.
She has also actively participated in leadership of Grace Hopper Celebration of Women, a conference series designed to raise awareness of the research and career interests of women in computing.
At UD, Pollock is an avid undergraduate and graduate mentor who co-created, along with Terrence Harvey, assistant professor of computer science, a service learning course that matches computer science student teams with middle school teachers to design and deploy learning games.
In 2004, Pollock received UD’s E. Arthur Trabant Award for Women’s Equity. She is a past recipient of UD’s Excellence in Teaching award.
Pollock completed her bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics at Allegheny College. She earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in computer science at the University of Pittsburgh.
Article by Karen B. Roberts