Druin Named ACM Fellow

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has recognized a noted University of Maryland faculty member for her significant contributions toward creating information and computing technologies with, and for, children.

Allison Druin, a professor in the College of Information Studies, Maryland’s iSchool, was today named an ACM Fellow. She is one of 53 ACM members chosen this year to receive the computing society’s highest distinction.

ACM Fellows are chosen by their peers and hail from universities, corporations or research laboratories throughout the world. Less than 1 percent of ACM’s nearly 100,000 members are named Fellows.

Druin has a long affiliation with the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), including serving as director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory from 2006–2011.

Druin’s record of research and scholarship at Maryland includes leading design teams of children and teens, computer scientists, educators and others to develop new educational technologies for young people with co-design methods. The focus has been to develop innovative co-design methods that give a voice to children in the technology development process. Over the years, Druin and her collaborators have created a variety of new technologies that include new mobile storytelling devices, digital libraries to support cultural tolerance, and robotic toys for active learning.

In 2010, the International Children's Digital Library, which Druin helped to develop, was given the "American Library Association President's Award for International Library Innovation.” That same year, the ACM recognized her with its SIGCHI "Social Impact Award" for her HCI work in supporting children with new technology.

Druin is currently on leave from the University of Maryland to work as Special Advisor for National Digital Strategy for the National Park Service, where she is leading service-wide strategic planning, and implementation of digital development, use and preservation at National Parks across the country.

She will be formally honored by the ACM on June 24, 2017 at the organization’s annual awards banquet in San Francisco.

Druin is the 13th person affiliated with UMIACS to be named an ACM Fellow. Victor Basili, Rama Chellappa, Larry Davis, Joseph JaJa, Jack Minker, Dana Nau, Dianne O’Leary, Hanan Samet, Ben Shneiderman, Aravind Srinivasan and Uzi Vishkin have previously received this distinction, with Louiqa Raschid also being named an ACM Fellow this year.