Irene Greif
Irene Greif | |
|---|---|
| Born | New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Computer scientist |
| Years active | 1970s–2013 |
| Known for | Founding computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), first woman to receive a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT |
Irene Greif is a pioneering American computer scientist recognized as one of the founders of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). She holds the distinction of being the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Early life and education
Originally from New York City, Greif grew up with a mother who worked as an accountant and has at least one sister. She completed her secondary education at Hunter College High School before pursuing both her bachelor's and advanced degrees at MIT. In 1975, she made history by becoming the first female to earn a doctoral degree in computer science from MIT, with her dissertation pioneering the initial practical actor model.
Career
Greif began her academic career as a computer science professor at the University of Washington. She later returned to MIT, where she served as a professor in electrical engineering and computer science from 1977 to 1987. In 1984, during an interdisciplinary workshop held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Greif and Paul Cashman introduced the term "Computer Supported Cooperative Work," commonly abbreviated as CSCW. Opting to focus on research rather than teaching, she transitioned from academia in 1987 to join Lotus Software. There, she led the Product Design Group and founded the Lotus Research division in 1992. Following Lotus's acquisition by IBM, Greif was named an IBM Fellow and took on the role of director for collaborative user experience at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center. She concluded her tenure at IBM with retirement in 2013.
Her professional accolades include Fellowship in both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), alongside membership in the National Academy of Engineering. Among her awards are induction into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame (2000), receipt of the Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology Leadership Award (2008), and the ABIE Award for Technical Leadership bestowed by the Anita Borg Institute (2012).
Additionally, Greif is featured among the Notable Women in Computing cards.
Personal life
Greif is married to Albert R. Meyer, who holds the Hitachi America Professorship in Computer Science at MIT. She identifies as Jewish and is a mother to one son and one daughter, as well as stepmother to two children. The family lives in Newton Centre, Massachusetts.
Selected works
- 1975, Semantics of communicating parallel processes
- 1980, Programs for distributed computing: the calendar application
- 1982, Cooperative office work, teleconferencing and calendar management: a collection of papers
- 1983, Software for the 'roles' people play
- 1988, Computer-supported cooperative work: a book of readings