Oral History with Maria Gini, Ph.D.

Abstract

This interview was conducted by CBI for CS&E in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the University of Minnesota Computer Science Department (now Computer Science and Engineering, CS&E). Professor Gini discusses her education in Italy, the influence of teachers and her twin sister in the study of mathematics, moving into the computing field for her doctorate, and specialization in artificial intelligence and robotics in computer science. This includes relating her years at the famed Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, SAIL. She joined the faculty in the Computer Science Department at the University of Minnesota in 1982, where she still serves, a full professor and highly prolific, path breaking scholar in robotics and artificial intelligence. She has done many fascinating and impactful projects and discusses and provides context to some of her research—from work on Pointy at SAIL to hosting the 2nd Autonomous Agents meeting in Minneapolis, and supply chain systems to Minnesota Scout, and medical language processing. She also discusses women and gender in the early decades of the department as well as within the broader context of gender and computer science education and research. Gini is an AAAI Fellow and a Distinguished Scientist of the ACM.