Human-Centered AI
Dr. Cecilia Aragon is best known for founding the field of Human-Centered Data Science and inventing randomized search trees, for which she won the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Obama and more recently, an ACM SIGCHI Special Recognition. She was the first Latina to earn the rank of Full Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington’s 100-year history, where she became the inaugural faculty member at the Washington’s 100-year history, where she became the inaugural faculty member at the UW eScience Institute.
Cecilia began her undergraduate studies at the age of 14 at Purdue University, earned her B.S. in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. UC Berkeley also honored her as a Distinguished Alumni in Computer Science for her significant contributions to the field.
Today, Dr. Aragon is a sought-after AI advisor and speaker who has transformed how organizations like NASA, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the University of Washington approach AI strategy. Passionate about elevating human potential through the responsible adoption of complex technology, she also serves on multiple advisory boards and is an investor in emerging companies. Combining deep technical knowledge with passionate concern for ethics, Cecilia is a captivating keynote speaker with the rare ability to make complex concepts accessible, engaging, and actionable for executives and general audiences alike. Her humor, wit, and vivid stories ensure that people of all backgrounds leave her talks inspired and equipped to drive innovation.
Cecilia has delighted audiences in more than a hundred venues, including stages at TED, Google, Nokia, Stanford, and IBM. She has appeared on the cover of a dozen technical and general-audience publications and has been featured on the Today show, WIRED, Mission Unstoppable, a recent documentary from the University of Washington, and more. Her books, courses, and more than 200+ published articles have reached millions and cement her position as an in-demand speaker and consultant.
From Fear to Freedom:
How a Tech Visionary Overcame Fear to Soar
Cecilia Aragon is a computer scientist, entrepreneur, professor, award-winning author, and champion aerobatic pilot. Her memoir, Flying Free: My Victory Over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team, shares her journey of breaking past her own fears to become a competitive pilot.
The daughter of a Chilean father and a Filipina mother, Cecilia Aragon grew up as a shy, timid child in a small midwestern town. Targeted by school bullies and dismissed by many of her teachers, she suffered from a paralyzing lack of confidence. This feeling stayed with her well into her twenties when she was told that “girls can’t do science” or “women just don’t know how to handle machines.” Yet in the span of just six years, Cecilia learned how to fly, secured a place on the United States Unlimited Aerobatic Team, and earned the right to represent her country at the Olympics of aviation, the World Aerobatic Championships. How did she do it?
Using mathematical techniques to overcome her fear, Cecilia performed at air shows in front of millions of people. She jumped out of airplanes and taught others how to fly. She learned how to fund-raise and earned money to compete at the world level. She worked as a test pilot and contributed to the design of experimental airplanes, crafting curves of metal and fabric that shaped air to lift inanimate objects high above the earth.
Challenging herself to overcome her fears gave Cecilia the courage to pursue her dreams and change careers. She returned to graduate school and earned a PhD in Computer Science. Now she is a full Professor at the University of Washington, working at the intersection of human-computer interaction and data science/artificial intelligence.
Bring Cecilia Aragon to speak to your organization to share how she broke free from expectations and rose above her own limits by combining her passion for flying with math and logic in unexpected ways. Her story will inspire you to overcome your own greatest fears and achieve the freedom you always dreamed of. You don’t have to be a math whiz or a science geek to learn from her story. You just have to want to soar.
Bio
Dr. Aragon directs the Human-Centered Data Science Lab at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on analysis of vast data sets. Her awards for research, and a stint designing software for NASA, led President Obama to call her “one of the top scientists and engineers in the country” when she received the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She has worked with Nobel Prize winners, taught astronauts to fly, and created musical simulations of the universe with rock stars. She is one of the co-founders of Latinas in Computing. She is the CTO and co-founder of the start-up Viata.ai. Her books are Flying Free (Blackstone 2020), Human-Centered Data Science (MIT Press 2022), and Writers in the Secret Garden: Fanfiction, Youth, and New Forms of Mentoring (MIT Press 2019). She has spoken at major corporations such as TED, Google, Nokia, Roche Laboratories, and IBM; top universities and national labs such as Stanford and MIT; and has keynoted national and international conferences.