TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — A University of Alabama professor of computer science is one of 49 scientists, engineers and educators recently named a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery.
Dr. Jeff Gray is one of five educators worldwide recognized as a 2014 Distinguished Educator. He is the first educator from Alabama to receive this award.
The Distinguished Member Grade honors ACM members with at least 15 years of professional experience and five years of continuous membership who have achieved significant accomplishments or have made a significant impact on the computing field. ACM’s current worldwide membership exceeds 100,000.
Gray is a national leader in computer science education, and he is a member of Code.org’s Education Advisory Council. With several National Science Foundation grants, Gray has worked with the College Board and NSF as a pilot instructor to craft a new Advanced Placement computer-science course designed to increase secondary and post-secondary educational interest in computer science and improve collegiate preparation for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) awareness.
With support from Google, Code.org and the NSF, Gray has worked to train elementary and secondary teachers to incorporate computer science into their curriculum. He hosts an annual Alabama Robotics Competition for grades K-12, along with summer computer camps for similarly aged students.
Gray received both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer science from West Virginia University in 1991 and 1993, respectively. He earned a doctorate in computer science from Vanderbilt University in 2002.
Contact
Adam Jones, engineering public relations, 205/348-6444, acjones12@eng.ua.edu; Judah Martin, engineering student writer, jmmartin5@crimson.ua.edu
Source
Dr. Jeff Gray, 205/348-2847, gray@cs.ua.edu