Charlottesville, August 24, 2005
By: Charlie Feigenoff
The
Association for Women in Computing has awarded Professor
Anita Jones, the Lawrence R. Quarles Professor of Engineering
and Applied Science, the Augusta Ada Lovelace Award in recognition
of her outstanding scientific and technical achievements,
her technical accomplishments in software systems and computer
security, and her extraordinary record of public service,
including five years as Director of Defense Research and
Engineering at the U.S. Department of Defense.
The award is named in honor of the first computer programmer,
Augusta Ada Lovelace, whose writings developed the idea
of programming and explained the operation and theory of
Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Some previous recipients
of this award are Carol Bartz, leader of one of the largest
PC software companies in the world; Dr. Frances E. Allen,
the first woman to be named an IBM Fellow; Dr. Dorothy E.
Denning, a researcher at the forefront of information warfare,
security, and cryptography fields; Adele Mildred Koss who
developed the first compilers, and Grave Murray Hopper,
who is known for her work in the COBOL language.
Jones interests focus on the design and construction of
programmed systems. She has designed protection mechanisms
and built secure systems that make guarantees about how
information is used. She has built multi-processor operating
systems and experimented with their underlying architectures
and applications. By choice, she implements realistic and
substantial systems to test design and implementation hypotheses
so as to ensure that systems perform functionally and cost-effectively.
Her current focus is survivable information systems, wireless
sensor networks and interactive, distributed computer simulation
for training, analysis, and entertainment.
She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon
University in 1973. She was co-founder of Tartan Laboratories,
where she served as vice-president from 1981-87. In 1988,
she joined the University of Virginia as professor and chair
of the Department of Computer Science. From 1993-1997 she
served at the U.S. Department of Defense where, as Director
of Defense Research and Engineering, she oversaw the department's
science and technology program, research laboratories and
DARPA. She received the U.S. Air Force Meritorious Civilian
Service Award and a DoD Distinguished Public Service Award.
She served as vice chair of the National Science Board and
co-chair of the Virginia Research and Technology Advisory
Commission. She is a member of the Defense Science Board,
the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory Corporation, the MIT
Corporation and the National Research Council Advisory Council
for Policy and Global Affairs. She is a member of the National
Academy of Engineering and is a Fellow of ACM, IEEE and
AAAS. She is the author of 40 papers and two books.
