Jeanne Ferrante
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Jeanne Ferrante (born January 3, 1949) is an American
computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...
active in the field of
compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that Translator (computing), translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primaril ...
technology. As a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
's Jacobs School of Engineering, Ferrante has made important contributions regarding
optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...
and parallelization.


Early life and education

Ferrante was born on January 3, 1949. She completed her
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in natural sciences from
Hofstra University Hofstra University is a Private university, private research university in Hempstead, New York, United States. It originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University and became an independent college in 1939. Comprising ten schools, includ ...
in 1969 and her PhD in mathematics from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
in 1974. During her undergraduate studies, Ferrante originally wished to pursue a career as a high school chemistry teacher but was encouraged by a female professor to pursue a career in mathematics.


Career

Following her PhD, Ferrante taught at
Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...
until 1978 when she became a Research Staff Member at
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
's Thomas J. Watson Research Center. While with IBM, she worked on computational complexity problems such as the theory of rational order and first order theory of real addition. In the 1980s, Ferrante collaborated with various researchers at IBM to develop the Static Single Assignment form (SSA). The SSA is a data structure that allows for more efficient methods of transforming the user's program to machine code. Ferrante was later recognized for her collaborative work with the SSA form by the
Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional membe ...
with their 2006 SIGPLAN Programming Languages Achievement Award. In 1992, Ferrante and her husband Larry Carter decided to look for academic jobs after learning of major changes coming to IBM's research division. After being encouraged by Francine Berman to apply to
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
's (UCSD) Jacobs School of Engineering, they were both offered full professorships in 1994. Upon joining the faculty of UCSD, Ferrante served as the Computer Science and Engineering Department Chair from 1996 to 1999 and Associate Dean of Engineering from 2002 to 2013. In her first year as department chair, Ferrante was elected a Fellow of the
Association for Computing Machinery The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional membe ...
(ACM). As UCSD's Associate Dean, Ferrante focused on developing programs to encourage women to pursue careers in science. In 2004, she founded the Teams in Engineering Service (TIES) program which matches UCSD undergraduates with San Diego non-profit organizations to "solve technology-based problems for their community clients." In the same year, Ferrante was elected a Fellow of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...
(IEEE) for her "contributions to optimizing and parallelizing compilers." She subsequently became one of the only UCSD academics to hold fellowships simultaneously in IEEE and the ACM. Later, Ferrante served as the co-principal investigator of the Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) award program to create a multiplayer online science challenge game designed specifically for middle and high school aged girls. As a result of her efforts, Ferrante received the 2007 Athena Educator Pinnacle Award. In 2008, Ferrante was appointed the inaugural Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Equity, which was created in response to recommendations of the UCSD Workgroup on the Report of the UC President's Task Force on Faculty Diversity. In this role, Ferrante was one of three faculty members to receive a 2012 Diversity Award for their efforts to promote diversity and equity on the UCSD campus. Ferrante remained active within the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering until 2014 when she became a professor Emeritus.


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrante, Jeanne 1949 births Place of birth missing (living people) Living people American computer scientists American women computer scientists University of California, San Diego faculty 1996 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Fellows of the IEEE IBM Research computer scientists 21st-century American women Hofstra University alumni