Computer Science Alum Stephanie Forrest Selected for ACM Newell Award

U-M Computer and Communication Sciences PhD alumna Stephanie Forrest, Professor of Computer Science at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, has been selected to receive the ACM/AAAI Allen Newell Award for 2011. The Newell Award recognizes an individual for career contributions that have breadth within computer science, or that bridge computer science and other disciplines.

Prof. Forrest was selected for the Newell Award in recognition of her fundamental, paradigm-changing contributions to computer science and the biological sciences, most notably for bringing together models of immune systems, automated diversity, and network epidemiology, with significant impact on real computer and biological systems research and practice.

Prof. Forrest’s original contributions have introduced entirely new ways of looking at problems and solutions in cyber security and biology, in part by making explicit linkages between them. She has introduced ways for systems to model “self,” leading to practical methods for detecting anomalous and malicious behavior. This work expanded to encompass building “artificial immune systems” for computers and networks that simulate the behavior of natural immune systems. Her research has resulted in new approaches to human vaccine design and in understanding viral replication. It has also led to advances in automatic software fault correction, software (re)generation, and automated diversity for attack and flaw avoidance.

Prior to joining the University of New Mexico, Prof. Forrest was a researcher with the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She has also served as Vice President of Research and co-Chair of the Science Board at the Santa Fe Institute.

Additional Information

ACM Press Release: Award Winners Recognized for Breakthroughs in Web Security, Education, Data Structures, Computer Security, Software Development Tools