CMU Plays Prominent Role in Grace Hopper Celebration

Carnegie Mellon University is growing its presence at the Grace Hopper Celebration, the world's largest gathering of women technologists, set for Sept. 26–28 in Houston. Faculty, staff, alumni, current and prospective students will gather at Grace Hopper to support and inspire women to further their careers, break boundaries and transform the world of technology.

More than 20 faculty, alumni and students representing all seven of CMU's schools and colleges are presenting at Grace Hopper. Produced by AnitaB.org and presented in partnership with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the celebration is expected to attract 18,000 participants. 

Lani Fraizer, a 2002 graduate of the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, is co-chair of this year's Grace Hopper Celebration. Fraizer's career has spanned the private and public sectors, and she is an expert on the future of work. 

"GHC is a celebration of diversity and inclusion for women in technology. It's a community in which we come together to learn cutting-edge content in areas like AI, robotics, products, product development, educational technology, leadership and career development, and where women can support each other as they evolve into their careers," Fraizer said.

For more, read a Q&A with Fraizer about the Grace Hopper Celebration and her interests at the intersection of technology, social innovation and workforce development.

Numerous GHC 2018 planning committee members have connections to CMU. They include SCS graduate student Zarana Parekh, a member of the data science committee, and Heinz College MSIT Program Director Allison Frankoski, a member of the career committee.

Justine Cassell, associate dean of technology strategy and impact at the School of Computer Science and director emerita of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, is one of three keynote speakers this year. Her keynote on Friday, Sept. 28, is part of the "The Future as We See It" session and PitcHER Competition winners recognition ceremony.

Cassell also will present "Designing Bots and Other Systems that Hold Up Their End of the Conversation" as part of the Abie Awards Series on Thursday, Sept. 27. AnitaB.org honored Cassell with its Abie Award for Leadership in 2008.

Dena Haritos Tsamitis, Barbara Lazarus Professor in the Information Networking Institute, director of the College of Engineering's Information Networking Institute and a founding director of CyLab, will present a talk titled "Fraud Alert: Shatter Imposter Syndrome." A student advocate and mentor of women in technology, Haritos Tsamitis co-founded the student organization Women@INI and established a partnership with the Executive Women's Forum on Information Security, Risk Management and Privacy.