Jeanne Ferrante is a computer scientist active in the field of

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs tha ...

technology, where she 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 criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...

and parallelization. Jeanne Ferrante is Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

. She received her B.A. from New College at Hofstra University in 1969, and her Ph.D. from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

in 1974. Prior to joining UC San Diego in 1994, she taught at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

from 1974 until 1978, where she worked on computational complexity problems such as the theory of rational order and first order theory of real addition. In 1978, she worked as a research staff at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center until 1994. Dr. Ferrante's work has included the development of intermediate representations for optimizing and parallelizing compilers, most notably the Program Dependence Graph and Static Single Assignment (SSA) form. She is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Her SSA work (with colleagues from IBM) was recognized in 2006 by the ACM Programming Language Achievement Award as a "significant and lasting contribution to the field." As Associate Dean, she co-founded UCSD Teams In Engineering Service (now Global TIES), which partners multidisciplinary teams of undergraduates with non-profit organizations to provide long-term technical solutions. Dr. Ferrante also co-founded the UCSD Women's Leadership Alliance, whose aim is to advance leadership development, networking, and recognition of women campus leaders at UC San Diego. She was honored as a UCSD Community Champion for Diversity in 2004 and 2012, and received the 2007 Athena Educator Pinnacle Award for her diversity leadership efforts. She is currently a professor at the

, where she has also held the positions of Associate Vice Chancellor for Faculty Equity, and Associate Dean of the

Jacobs School of Engineering Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK *Jacobs (coffee), a brand of coffee *Jacobs Aircraft Engine Company, former American aircraft engine compan ...

. She is a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the Association for Computing Machinery (1996) and the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...

(2005).

Education

In 1969, Jeanne Ferrante received her B.A. from New College at Hofstra University in Natural Sciences, with High Honors in Mathematics. She went on to complete a Ph.D. at MIT and wrote her thesis "Some Upper and Lower Bounds on Decision Procedures in Logic".

Recognition

* Thomas A. Kanneman Outstanding Service Award, SD County Engineering Council, 2009 * Athena San Diego Pinnacle Educator of the Year Award, 2007 * ACM SIGPLAN Programming Languages Achievement Award for the development of Static Single Assignment (SSA) form (with Ron Cytron, Barry Rosen, Mark Wegman and Ken Zadeck). SSA is a program representation that yields faster, more compact and powerful program optimizations, and the award recognizes SSA as a "significant and lasting contribution to the field of programming languages". My contributions led to algorithms that efficiently compute SSA, enabling its implementation in many commercial and research compilers, including GCC (GNU Compiler Collection). 2006 * IEEE Fellow, for contributions to optimizing and parallelizing compilers. 2005 * Highly Cited Researcher, a designation given to "less than one-half percent of all publishing researchers," ISIHighlyCited.com. 2005 * UCSD Community Champion for Diversity Award, Academic Affairs. 2004, 2012 * ACM Fellow, for the development of intermediate program representations for program optimization and parallelization that are fundamental to current optimizing compilers. 1996 * IBM Outstanding Innovation Award, for co-inventing Static Single Assignment form. 1992 * IBM Outstanding Innovation Award, for co-inventing the Program Dependence Graph, a program representation of essential control and data flow to expose maximal parallelism. 1988 * Edward A. Dickson Emeriti Professorship, May 2021, recognizing teaching, research and community service.

Other interests

She enjoys biking, hiking, playing piano, and painting.

References

External links

Home page at UCSD
{{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 Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery Fellow Members of the IEEE IBM Research computer scientists 21st-century American women