The Computing Research Association

^{∫ archive ∫}Distinguished Service Award

CRA makes an award, usually annually, to a person who has made an outstanding service contribution to the computing research community. This award recognizes service in the areas of government affairs, professional societies, publications or conferences, and leadership that has a major impact on computing research.

²⁰⁰³Ruzena Bajcsy

2003 Ruzena Bajcsy Awardee Director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the UC campuses of Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz

Ruzena Bajcsy has been Director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) at the UC campuses of Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz since November 2001.

From December 1998 to September 2001, Dr. Bajcsy served as Assistant Director of NSF’s Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). During her tenure at NSF, she was instrumental in helping to establish the Foundation’s Information Technology Research (ITR) program that funds innovative, high-impact research in information technology. As a result of ITR funding, CISE’s research budget grew by about 50 percent, the largest increase in the history of CISE. Dr. Bajcsy was very effective in making the case that the bulk of this money, especially in the first year, go to researchers in computer science and engineering.

Ruzena Bajcsy has a record of more than 30 years of contributions to the computing field as a scientist and administrator. She is a pioneering researcher in machine perception, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Bajcsy is currently a professor in both the CIS Department and the Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics department at Berkeley; she also directs the University of Pennsylvania’s General Robotics and Active Sensory Perception Laboratory, which she founded in 1978.

Prior to her service as Assistant Director at NSF, Dr. Bajcsy spent nearly 20 years at the University of Pennsylvania, including five years (1985-1990) as the chair of the Computer and Information Sciences Department. During her career, Dr. Bajcsy has also been active on the editorial boards of many major journals, and served as chair or member of scores of major conferences and workshops.

Among many honors received, Bajcsy is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering, and she is a Fellow of the AAAI, IEEE, and ACM. She received the ACM A. Newell Award in 2001.