* Click on member's name to read their bio.*

CRA-W Co-Chairs:

  • Carla Brodley - Co-Chair

    Department of Computer Science, Tufts University

  • Kathleen Fisher - Co-Chair, Industry Programs, CAPP-L

    AT&T Labs Research

CRA-W Members and Projects:

  • Nancy Amato - Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU), Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS)

    Department of Computer Science, Texas A&M University

  • Cecilia R. Aragon - Communications
    Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  • Carla Brodley - Co-Chair

    Department of Computer Science, Tufts University

  • Tracy Camp - Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU)
    Colorado School of Mines

  • Sheila Castañeda - Career Mentoring Workshops, Multidisciplinary Research Opportunities for Women (MRO-W)

    Computer Science Department, Clarke College

  • Lori Clarke - Grad Cohort Program
    University of Massachusetts

  • Joanne Cohoon - Evaluation
    University of Virginia

  • Andrea Danyluk - Collaborative Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU)

    Williams College

  • Dilma Da Silva - Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS)
    IBM Research

  • Carla Ellis - Steering Committee, Fundraising Committee, NCWIT hub co-director, Grace Hopper liaison

    Computer Science Department, Duke University

  • Kathleen Fisher - Co-Chair, Industry Programs, CAPP-L

    AT&T Labs Research

  • Joan Francioni - Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop (CAPP)
    Department of Computer Science, Winona State University

  • Maria Gini - Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU)
    Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota

  • Susanne E. Hambrusch - Career Mentoring Workshops (CMW-R), Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop (CAPP)

    Purdue University

  • Mary Jean Harrold - Steering Committee, Communications Committee (Newsletter editor)

    School of Computer Science, College of Computing
    Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the College of Computing

  • Julia Hirschberg
    Computer Science, Columbia University

  • Mary Jane Irwin - Steering Committee member, Awards and Nominations, Governments Affairs member

    Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Penn State University

  • Susan Landau - ResearcHers, Booklist, Advanced Career Mentoring Workshop (CAPP)

    Distinguished Engineer, Sun Microsystems Laboratories

  • Tessa Lau
    Staff member at IBM's Almaden Research Center

  • Margaret Martonosi - Co-Chair, Discipline-Specific Workshops

    Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University

  • Renée J. Miller - Distinguished Lecture Series (DLS)

    Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto

  • Joann Ordille

    Avaya Labs

  • Lori Pollock - Grad Cohort Program

    Department of Computer and Information Sciences, University of Delaware

  • Mary Lou Soffa - Affilites DMP Program, Grad Cohort Program, Cohort of Associate Professors Project (CAPP)

    Department of Computer Science, University of Virginia

  • Manuela Veloso
    Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University

  • Telle Whitney - Liaison with the Institute for Women in Technology

    Institute for Women in Technology

CRA-W Emerita Members:

Emerita status is bestowed upon retired members who made major contributions to CRA-W during their membership.

CRA-W Staff:

Cecilia R. Aragon: Communications
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dr. Cecilia R. Aragon is a Staff Scientist with the Visualization Group in the High Performance Computing Research Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California. She has worked in several areas of computer science research, publishing results in theoretical computer science, visualization, visual analytics, image processing, and human-computer interaction. She received her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, and her B.S. in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology.


Aragon's early work was in theoretical computer science. With Raimund Seidel, she developed treaps, binary search trees in which each node has both a key and a priority, and randomized search trees, which use random priorities in treaps to achieve good average-case performance. With Johnson, McGeoch, and Schevon, she conducted the first extensive evaluation of the simulated annealing algorithm in combinatorial optimization problems. More recently, she has been working in visualization and analytics with applications to large scientific data sets. She developed an airflow hazard indicator for helicopter pilots that increased their ability to land safely during simulated hazardous conditions. With Bailey, Poon, Runge, and Thomas, she developed Sunfall, a visual analytics system for supernova astrophysics.

She has published articles in peer-reviewed journals and conferences in both computer science and astrophysics. As of April 2008, her publications have been cited over 1300 times (per Google Scholar). Her twenty-plus years of work experience include research, teaching, software development, and entrepreneurial and management experience. Prior to holding her current appointment, she was a computer scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. Before that, she was the founder and CEO of a small aviation company, an airshow and test pilot, aerobatic champion, and medallist at the World Aerobatic Championships, the Olympics of aviation.

Aragon is also active in supporting diversity in computing. She is a founding member of Latinas in Computing, a member of the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W), and a member of the University of California Presidential Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.

Aragon and her husband live in the San Francisco Bay Area with their two children. She enjoys reading, walking, flying, and being a soccer mom. Her Erdös number is 3.