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Susan Horwitz

Susan Horwitz is Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; she received her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell in 1985. Professor Horwitz has been actively involved in innovative approaches to improving Computer-Science education for many years, constantly seeking to introduce best practices into her own classrooms and to disseminate them to others.

Professor Horwitz has been invited frequently to lead or participate in educational workshops sponsored by national organizations, and her teaching has been recognized through many awards at the University of Wisconsin, including the Computer Sciences Department Carolyn Rosner Excellent Educator Award, 1997; the Computer Sciences Department SACM Student's Choice Professor of the Year Award, 1993; the University of Wisconsin William H. Kiekhofer Excellence in Teaching Award, 1993; the College of Letters and Sciences Teaching Excellence Award, 1992; and the Computer Sciences Department SACM Student's MVP (Most Valued Professor) Award, 1989.

Since the fall of 2004, Professor Horwitz has been the lead PI on a four-year NSF IT Workforce grant that involves pioneering and evaluating the use of Peer-Led Team Learning in introductory Computer-Science courses. The goal of the project is to increase the participation and retention of undergraduate women and minority students in Computer Science. Results to-date have been very encouraging: the approach has proved effective in lowering drop rates, increasing participants' grades, and combating common negative stereotypes about Computer Scientists.


Creative Commons License Material on these pages developed by Owen Astrachan is ©Owen Astrachan, is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0722274, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. We gratefully acknowledge additional funding from IBM via an IBM Faculty Award.
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