Leah Pistorius
March 15, 2025
Three faculty in the University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering are recognized with awards by the Association of Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI). Professor Kate Starbird has been inducted into the esteemed SIGCHI Academy, and Professors Cecilia Aragon and Nadya Peek are honored with ACM SIGCHI Special Recognition.
The ACM SIGCHI is an international community dedicated to the research, education, and practical application of human-computer interaction. Each year, SIGCHI acknowledges individuals for their exceptional contributions to research, teaching, practice, and service within this field.
SIGCHI Academy
Kate Starbird
HCDE Professor
The SIGCHI Academy is a distinguished group of individuals recognized for their significant and cumulative contributions to the advancement of human-computer interaction and their influence on the research of others. Starbird joins HCDE Professor & Chair Julie Kientz, who was named to the Academy in 2024.
Professor Starbird's research sits within the fields of human-computer interaction (HCI) and computer supported cooperative work (CSCW). Extending from early work in crisis informatics, her research program has followed the phenomenon of online rumoring down the rabbit hole and into some of the toxic online spaces that are increasingly (re)shaping discourse, values, and politics around the world. In particular, Starbird's team has developed and deployed methods for conducting rapid research to help resolve rumors as they unfold. Another major contribution of her work has been to demonstrate that online disinformation — i.e. the intentional manipulation of discourse for political gain — is inherently participatory, taking shape through collaborations between witting agents and unwitting (though willing) crowds. Most recently, her research has converged on a conceptualization of right-wing media as effectively leveraging partisan, participatory dynamics through improvisational performances.
Dr. Starbird received her BS in Computer Science from Stanford (1997) and her Ph.D. in Technology, Media and Society from the University of Colorado (2012). She has received several awards for her research, including the ACM SIGCHI Societal Impact Award and a Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) award. She is a co-founder and formerly served as director of the UW Center for an Informed Public, which works through research, education, and policy recommendations to strengthen democratic discourse by building resilience to online misinformation and manipulation.
ACM SIGCHI Special Recognition
The SIGCHI Special Recognition program, new in 2025, celebrates and honors individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the field of human-computer interaction.
Cecilia Aragon
HCDE Professor
Professor Aragon is recognized for "establishing human-centered data science as a new field bridging HCI and data science, demonstrating its impact through applications from astrophysics to energy systems."
Professor Aragon's research focuses on human-centered data science, an emerging field at the intersection of human-computer interaction (HCI) and data science. Her work has been recognized with over $28 million in grants from federal agencies, private foundations, and industry. Dr. Aragon has authored or co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles, 3 books, 4 patents, and over 140 other publications in the areas of data science, HCI, machine learning, and astrophysics. In 2016, she became the first Latina to be named to the rank of Full Professor in the College of Engineering at UW in its hundred-year history. Aragon is a Distinguished Member of the ACM, Senior Data Science Fellow at the eScience Institute at UW, and the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the US government on outstanding scientists in the early stages of their careers. Her latest book, Human-Centered Data Science: An Introduction, was released by MIT Press in March 2022.
Nadya Peek
HCDE Associate Professor
Professor Peek is recognized for "democratizing automation through open-source hardware, building global maker communities, and bridging academic research with grassroots fabrication practices."
Professor Peek's research focuses on harnessing the precision of machines for the creativity of individuals. Peek directs HCDE's Machine Agency where she works with students to develop unconventional digital fabrication tools, small scale automation, networked controls, and advanced manufacturing systems, spanning electronics, firmware, software, and mechanics. Machines and systems Peek has built have been shared widely, including at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the World Economic Forum, TED, and many Maker Faires and outreach events. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and her teaching has been recognized with the University of Washington’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Innovation with Technology. She received the MIT Technology Review’s 35 under 35 award in 2020. Nadya is an active member of the global fab lab community, making digital fabrication more accessible with better CAD/CAM tools and developing open source hardware machines and control systems. She is on the board of the Open Source Hardware Association, the editor in chief of the Journal of Open Hardware, half of the design studio James and the Giant Peek, plays drum machines and synths in the band Construction, and got her Ph.D. at MIT in the Center for Bits and Atoms.
Additional 2025 SIGCHI Awardees from UW include Alexis Hiniker, associate professor in the Information School and alumna of HCDE's PhD program (2017), who is recognized with an ACM SIGCHI Societal Impact Award; and James Fogarty, a professor in the Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, who joins Professor Starbird in the ACM SIGCHI Academy.
The awardees will be formally recognized at the upcoming ACM CHI 2025 conference in April. View the full list of 2025 awardees in the SIGCHI announcement.