Professor Gini Receives NCWIT’s Research and Graduate Mentoring Award

Professor Maria Gini has been named the recipient of the 2018 Harrold and Notkin Research and Graduate Mentoring Award. The award, sponsored by the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT), recognizes faculty members from non-profit institutions who distinguish themselves with outstanding research and excellent graduate mentoring, as well as those who recruit, encourage, and promote women and minorities in computing fields.

In NCWIT's announcement, Marie desJardins, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the College of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Maryland, describes Gini as “a respected and prolific researcher in the areas of intelligent agents, multi-agent systems, and robotics” who “uses her visibility and prominence to make the field a better place for everyone, particularly graduate students and women at all levels.”

Since joining the University of Minnesota, Professor Gini has established an international reputation for her research in robotics and artificial intelligence, and as a role model in mentoring students. She has become known as one of the outstanding advisors and teachers at the University, winning a number of awards starting with the Morse-Alumni Award in 1987.

She has consistently contributed to undergraduate advising and mentoring not only at the department and college level, but also at the national level through her activities as Co-director of the CRA-W Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates (DREU) program, her leadership roles in the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference, and other mentoring activities at international conferences.

She has been recognized recently by AAAI, the professional society for Artificial Intelligence, with their Distinguished Service Award “for her outstanding contributions to the field of artificial intelligence through sustained service leading AI societies, journals, and conferences; mentoring colleagues; and working to increase participation of women in AI and computing.”

Professor Gini was honored at the 2018 NCWIT Summit on Women and IT. As this year’s winner, the University of Minnesota will receive a gift of $5,000, sponsored by the NCWIT Board of Directors. Read the NCWIT's blog to read their full announcement.