Joseph A. Konstan
Professor of Computer Science and Engineering
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN, USA

BIOGRAPHY

Joseph A. Konstan earned an A.B. magna cum laude with highest honors in Computer Science from Harvard College in 1987; he earned an M.S. (1990) and Ph.D. (1993) in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, with a dissertation on user interface toolkit software architecture, focusing on event handling, layout management, and data change propagation.  He immediately joined the faculty of Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, where he was most recently promoted to Full Professor in 2005.  He has served the University in several roles, including as Director of Graduate Studies for Software Engineering, DGS for Computer Science, and as the University's representative to (and vice-chair of) the Federal Demonstration Partnership (where he works to reduce administrative burden related to research grants). 

Dr. Konstan is an ACM Distinguished Scientist, and has served as an ACM Distinguished Lecturer.  He has authored over 85 peer-reviewed papers, articles, and book chapters, and holds six U.S. patents.  His recent work spans three research challenges:  Recommender Systems--the design and development of systems that personalize content based on user preferences; Online Community--designing the structure and implementation of online communities to better elicit user contributions; and E-Public Health--specifically a current clinical trial of an online "experience" designed to reduce HIV risk-taking in high-risk men.

Konstan is currently Chair of ACM's SIG Governing Board.  In this role (and as part of ACM's Executive Committee) he has taken on challenges related to ACM-W and the support of women in computing and to the internationalization of ACM.  Previously, he served as President of ACM SIGCHI, as vice-Chair of both the SGB and the Membership Services Board, and on the Executive Committee of ACM SIGMultimedia.  He was general chair of UIST 2003 and ACM Recommender Systems 2007; program co-chair for ACM Multimedia 2000; doctoral symposium chair for three ACM conferences; and a volunteer in many roles for a variety of conferences.

STATEMENT

I am honored by this nomination. Since first volunteering in 1994, I have enjoyed working with talented and dedicated ACM volunteers and staff.  Since entering leadership five years ago, I've seen up-close many of the tremendous things we're doing for the field and our members.

From the Digital Library and Portal to our Professional Development Center, we provide great online resources for computing professionals.

Through CSTA and the Education Board and Council, we're nurturing a motivated and capable pipeline of students.  Our SIG conferences are the technical and professional networking highlight for thousands.  And our transactions, journals, and magazines are the best in the business.

At the same time, we must improve.  We're investing in India and China--working with local leaders to understand how to support the advancement of the science and practice of computing.  We've redesigned Communications of the ACM to make it more relevant to our membership, more timely, and more representative of the best work in all of computing.

I'd like to pursue four other important issues.  First, our local activities program.  While ACM has many chapters worldwide, our support for local activities and local volunteers needs enhancement:  increased access to technical programs, better online tools to help local leaders manage membership and communications, and local volunteer development and support. 

Second, better support outside North America.  While our SIGs and staff have done an excellent job bringing our conferences around the world, we too often operate as an "American presence" in "foreign lands."  We must gain the expertise, the tools, and the worldwide volunteer leadership to help us operate in locally appropriate ways while maintaining ACM's high technical quality standards. 

Third, better inreach and outreach.  We must improve our ways of informing members of the activities and content that interest each of you.  And we need to do a better job reaching out to conference attendees, chapter meeting attendees, and online visitors to help them find ACM activities and content of interest, including membership in ACM and its SIGs.

And finally, I feel ACM has a role in guiding our field as we struggle with the relationship between "computer science" and broader "computing."  I look forward to these challenges, and to working together on them.