Cranor, Touretzky Named 2020 AAAS Fellows
New Delhi: Lorrie Cranor and David S. Touretzky, both faculty members at Carnegie Mellon University, have been named 2020 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The lifetime distinction recognizes important contributions to STEM disciplines, including pioneering research, leadership within a given field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations, and advancing public understanding of science. Previous recipients include Thomas Edison, Margaret Mead and Grace Hopper.
Cranor is the director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies of CyLab and the FORE Systems Professor of Computer Science and of Engineering and Public Policy in the Institute for Software Research and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy. The AAAS cited her “for contributions to usable privacy and security research, policy and education.”
She founded the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (SOUPS) conference and co-edited the seminal book “Security and Usability.” She regularly presents privacy research in Washington, DC policy forums and served as chief technologist of the Federal Trade Commission in 2016.
Touretzky, a research professor in the Computer Science Department and the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, was cited “for combining high quality impactful research in machine learning with equally high quality impactful educational activities using robotics to engage students in computing.”
Touretzky leads the AI for K-12 Initiative, which was established by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Computer Science Teachers Association to develop national guidelines for teaching AI in K-12. He has been active in developing hardware and software for educational use, including the Calypso programming framework for the Cozmo robot. His research interests include cognitive robotics and computational neuroscience.
Cranor and Touretzky are among 35 AAAS Fellows who have called CMU home. A virtual induction ceremony for the 489 newly elected Fellows will take place on Feb. 13, 2021, following the AAAS Annual Meeting.
Elizabeth Dickey, who will join the CMU faculty in January as head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, also was named an AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to materials engineering research and education.