Dean and Professor Eunice E. Santos has been elected chair of the Computing Research Association (CRA) Deans Group. During her two-year term as chair, Santos will also be representing the Deans Group externally as needed. Previously, Santos served on the leadership team as vice chair and secretary. As chair, she will also have a seat on the CRA Board of Directors.
CRA works with over 200 North American organizations that are active in computing research to represent the computing research community and to effect change that benefits both computing research and society at large. More than 40 institutions from several countries participate in the CRA Deans Group, which meets annually to discuss a range of topics and share experiences in creating independent schools and IT units. The group is organized around schools of computing, information, and/or information technology with heads that report directly to the provost or chief academic officer at a university.
Santos is an accomplished scholar and researcher whose expertise includes computational social science, with an appreciation for the social and human aspects of the information sciences. Her recent research focuses on using computationally intensive methods to understand the behavior of social networks and communities. Santos has received numerous awards, including a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Spira Award for Excellence in Teaching, IEEE-CS Technical Achievement Award, Robinson Faculty Award, and IEEE Big Data Security Woman of Achievement Award. She is among the Chicago leaders who have been named to Crain's Tech 50, recognized in both 2016 and 2018. Santos also is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
"I look forward to leading the CRA Deans Group and being a voice for our members through my service on the CRA Board," said Santos. "Through the open sharing of our experience as deans, we have helped make improvements to our institutions and to the field as a whole."