Ann Gates Named Plenary Speaker for Computing Conference

Dr. Ann Gates, Associate Vice President of Research at The University of Texas at El Paso

Dr. Ann Gates, Associate Vice President of Research at The University of Texas at El Paso.

Dr. Ann Gates, Associate Vice President of Research at The University of Texas at El Paso has been named a plenary speaker for the 2009 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference.

The conference, which includes a full technical program including papers, panels, workshops, posters, Birds-of-a-Feather sessions, a doctoral consortium and a robotics completion, will take place April 1-4, 2009 at the Portland Oregon Marriott Downtown Waterfront.

Gates is one of five plenary speakers who will give plenary talks in line with the conference theme of “Intellect, Initiative, Insight and Innovation”.

“I was surprised and honored to be asked to be a plenary speaker,” said Gates. “I will be talking about how diverse thought and experiences are important elements of innovation and the ways in which interdisciplinary teams promote this diversity. If I can inspire a few students to influence computing research by contributing to their unique perspectives, I will leave the conference happy.”

Before becoming Associate Vice President of Research, Gates served as Chair of the Department of Computer Science. She earned both her undergraduate and master’s degrees from UTEP and has long been a leading researcher at UTEP. She directs both the National Science Foundation-funded Cyber-ShARE Center of Excellence and the Computing Alliance for Hispanic-Serving Institutions, an NSF-funded consortium focused on the recruitment, retention and advancement of Hispanics in computing.

The Tapia Celebration is organized by the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC) and sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) in cooperation with the Computing Research Association (CRA) and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS).

The conference honors the significant contributions of Dr. Richard A. Tapia, University Professor and Maxfield-Oshman Professor in Engineering in the Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics and Director of the Center for Excellence and Equity in Education at Rice University.

For more information on the 2009 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference visit http://tapiaconference.org/2009.