Renée McCauley Recognized for Lifetime Service to Computer Science Education

Renée McCauley, professor and chair of the department of computer science at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, has been selected to receive the 2023 Award for Lifetime Service to the Computer Science Education Community from the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education(SIGCSE) of the Association for Computing Machinery. The award honors an individual who has a long history of volunteer service to the computer science education community. Professor McCauley will be honored at the 54th Association for Computing Machinery Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education this coming March in Toronto.

In addition to co-chairing annual conferences, Dr. McCauley was elected to the SIGCSE board for 12 years – serving three-year terms as an at-large board member, treasurer, chair, and immediate past chair. She also held leadership positions at the Association for Computing Machinery for six years. She co-edited a top computing education research journal for seven years and led or contributed to several international computing curriculum committees. She was also involved in the creation of the ACM Inroads magazine.

“I still enjoy volunteering professionally, and have maintained an active research program with NSF funding and many international collaborators,” said Professor McCauley, who is the first female faculty member to chair the college’s department of computer science. “Currently, as chair of the computer science department, I am more locally focused, particularly on how I can assist faculty to be successful, including mentoring new faculty toward tenure and promotion or senior instructorship. It is important to help guide faculty to ensure they are successful for the long term, as this reflects greatly on the quality of students and professionals we produce – the next generation of computer scientists – and the impact this has on society at large.”

Dr. McCauley holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education and a master’s degree in educational administration and supervision from Louisiana State University. She earned a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Southwestern Louisiana.