Dianne O’Leary Named Distinguished University Professor Emerita

Dianne O’Leary, professor emerita of computer science and UMIACS, has been named a Distinguished University Professor Emerita by the university.

Distinguished University Professor is the highest academic honor that can be bestowed upon a faculty member. O’Leary now joins four other esteemed UMIACS researchers with this title: Rita Colwell, Hanan Samet, G.W. “Pete” Stewart and Ben Shneiderman.

O’Leary joined the university in 1978. Her research has focused on computational linear algebra and optimization, with applications including solution of ill-posed problems, image deblurring, protein configuration, information retrieval and quantum computing. She also held an appointment in the University Applied Mathematics and Statistics and Scientific Computing Program.

Most recently, O’Leary has helped lead efforts to expand research and education in quantum information and computer science at Maryland.

During the span of her career, O’Leary authored two books, more than 100 research publications on numerical analysis and computational science, and 30 publications on education and mentoring.

O’Leary is a member of the Association of Women in Mathematics (AWM), a fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), and a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Mathematics degree from the University of Waterloo in 2005; received the Board of Visitors Distinguished Faculty Award, College of Computer, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences, University of Maryland, in 2007; and was chosen to be the 2008 AWM-SIAM Sonia Kovalevsky Lecturer.