Northwestern University Professor Liz Gerber Named 2014 Recipient of IEEE Computer Society Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., March 3, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Northwestern University Cordell Breed Junior Professor of Design Liz Gerber has been named the 2014 recipient of the IEEE Computer Society Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award for her contributions to learning.

Liz Gerber earned her MS and PhD in Product Design and Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University. She specializes in design and human-computer interaction, particularly how social computing supports the innovation process. Her current research investigates crowdfunding as a mechanism for reducing disparities in entrepreneurship. Gerber was recognized "for her paradigm-shifting extracurricular design initiative that fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and learning."

Gerber's work funded by the US National Science Foundation and the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance has appeared in peer-reviewed journals, including ACM Transactions on Computer Human Interactions, Design Studies, and Organization Science.

As an award-winning teacher and researcher, Gerber has touched the lives of more than 6,000 students through her teaching at Northwestern's Segal Design Institute and Stanford University's Hasso Plattner's Institute of Design and through her paradigm-shifting creation, Design for America, a national network of students using design to tackle social challenges.

In the past five years, Gerber's students have won more than 25 local and national awards for their technical innovations, such as the Dell Social Innovation Award and Federal Health Design Challenge. They have also launched companies to address complex societal problems such as hospital-acquired infections and Type 2 Diabetes. Her students been featured in outlets such as MIT's Technology Review, The Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, and more.

The Computer Science and Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Award comes with a certificate and $2,000 honorarium. The award honors outstanding contributions to undergraduate education through teaching and service, and for help in maintaining interest in the field.

For more information on IEEE Computer Society awards, visit http://www.computer.org/awards.

About IEEE Computer Society

IEEE Computer Society is the world's leading computing membership organization and the trusted information and career-development source for a global workforce of technology leaders including: professors, researchers, software engineers, IT professionals, employers, and students. The unmatched source for technology information, inspiration, and collaboration, the IEEE Computer Society is the source that computing professionals trust to provide high-quality, state-of-the-art information on an on-demand basis. The Computer Society provides a wide range of forums for top minds to come together, including technical conferences, publications, and a comprehensive digital library, unique training webinars, professional training, and the TechLeader Training Partner Program to help organizations increase their staff's technical knowledge and expertise, as well as the personalized information tool myComputer. To find out more about the community for technology leaders, visit http://www.computer.org.

Media Contact: Margo McCall, IEEE Computer Society, (714) 816-2182, [email protected]

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SOURCE IEEE Computer Society