We are pleased to announce that Christine Alvarado, currently Associate Dean for Students in the Jacobs School of Engineering and Teaching Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has been appointed Associate Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education, effective July 1, 2022.
Professor Alvarado joined the UC San Diego faculty in 2012. Prior to joining our campus, she was a tenured associate professor at Harvey Mudd College. She received her undergraduate degree in computer science from Dartmouth College in 1998, graduating summa cum laude. She received her and M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from MIT in 2000 and 2004, respectively.
Professor Alvarado has been a strong advocate for undergraduate education and equity, diversity, and inclusion. Her scholarship is focused on designing curriculum and programs to make computing and computing education more accessible and appealing, with the specific goal of increasing the number of women and Black, Latinx, Native American and Pacific Islander students who study computing. Her work has been funded by several grants from the National Science Foundation including a CAREER award in 2005. At Harvey Mudd College she co-designed a new introductory computer course, nicknamed ‘CS for Scientists’ that takes a broad focus on the discipline of computer science. This course along with other programmatic efforts raised the percentage of women in the computer science major at Harvey Mudd College from 12% to around 40%. She has worked on similar efforts at UC San Diego. She also currently serves on the development committee for the College Board's AP Computer Science: Principles course.
At UC San Diego, Professor Alvarado has received several prestigious awards, including the Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action and Diversity Award (2016), the Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award (2017), and the Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2019).
In her role as Associate Dean in the Division of Undergraduate Education, Professor Alvarado will support the Division’s work to create a student-centered university through a variety of projects, including program reviews and equity-minded assessments.
Please join us in welcoming Professor Alvarado to the Division of Undergraduate Education.
