R. Iris Bahar

2022 Distinguished Alumni Award

For contributions to engineering education and the development of energy-efficient and reliable computing systems.

R. Iris Bahar received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1986 and 1987 respectively.  After spending 5 years in industry working for Digital Equipment Corporation, she returned to graduate school and received her Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1995. From 1996-2021 she was on the faculty at Brown University and held dual appointments as Professor of Engineering and Professor of Computer Science.   She recently joined the faculty at the Colorado School of Mines in January 2022 and serves at Department Head of Computer Science.  Her research interests lie broadly in the areas of computer system design and design automation, with a focus on energy-efficient and reliable computing, from robots, to high-end processors, embedded systems, and emerging technologies.  Her research has resulted in over 200 publications in journals, conferences, and targeted workshops on these topics.  Iris is passionate about addressing diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in many aspects of her teaching, research, and service.  She has been a frequent speaker at conferences, workshops, and NSF/CRA events on challenges and strategies for women and underrepresented minorities in computing.  Her efforts in undergraduate curriculum development have aimed at broadening participation, diversity, and inclusion in the classroom.  Prof. Bahar is the 2019 recipient of the Marie R. Pistilli Women in Engineering Achievement Award and the Brown University School of Engineering Award for Excellence in Teaching in Engineering.  She is an IEEE fellow and an ACM Distinguished Scientist.

Current as of 2022.