Irene Greif

{{Infobox academic

| name = Irene Greif

| image = File:Irene-2.jpg

| image_size = thumb

| caption = Greif in 2015

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| alma_mater = MIT

| occupation = Computer scientist

| discipline = Computer Science

| workplaces = University of Washington, MIT

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| spouse = Albert R. Meyer

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Irene Greif is an American computer scientist and a founder of the field of computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW).{{cite web|title=Dr. Irene Greif IBM Fellow, Director of Collaborative User Experience Group, IBM Research|url=http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/143610/Dr.-Irene-Greif-IBM-Fellow,-Director-of-Collaborative-User-Experience-Group-IBM-Research/|publisher=WITI – Women in Technology International|accessdate=April 19, 2014}} She was the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Early life and education

Greif's mother was an accountant, and a native of New York City.{{cite news|title=Lotus' Irene Greif: "We Need to Do More for Technical Women"|url=http://www.businessweek.com/careers.old/content/jun2000/ca20000620_812.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924120206/http://www.businessweek.com/careers.old/content/jun2000/ca20000620_812.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 24, 2015|accessdate=April 19, 2014|newspaper=Business Week|date=June 20, 2000}} Greif has at least one sibling, a sister.{{cite web|last=Lasewicz|first=Paul|title=IBM Women in Technology: Irene Grief|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/witexhibit/pdf/greif_history.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515173953/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/witexhibit/pdf/greif_history.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 15, 2005|accessdate=April 19, 2014|pages=22|date=July 28, 2003}} She attended Hunter College High School before earning her undergraduate and graduate degrees from MIT. In 1975, Greif became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT; in her dissertation of that year, she published the first operational actor model.{{cite book|last=Zenil|first=Hector|title=A Computable Universe: Understanding and Exploring Nature as Computation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s4AR6y1cp5EC&pg=PA165|year=2013|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-4374-29-3|page=165}}

Career

She was a professor of computer science at the University of Washington before returning to MIT as a professor of electrical engineering and computer science (1977–87). In 1984, Greif and Paul Cashman coined the term "Computer Supported Cooperative Work" and the initials, CSCW, at an interdisciplinary workshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts.{{cite book|last=Schäl|first=Thomas|title=Workflow Management Systems for Process Organisations|url=https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-3-540-49450-2|date=January 1, 1998|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-540-65304-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-3-540-49450-2/page/n82 72]–}}{{cite book|last=Baecker|first=Ronald M.|title=Readings in Groupware and Computer-supported Cooperative Work: Assisting Human-human Collaboration|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAeh8eawfNUC&pg=PA5|year=1993|publisher=Morgan Kaufmann|isbn=978-1-55860-241-0|page=5}} Preferring research over teaching,{{cite news|last=Rosen|first=Rebecca J.|title=The First Woman to Get a Ph.D. in Computer Science From MIT – Irene Greif talks to The Atlantic about her life and legacy|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/03/the-first-woman-to-get-a-phd-in-computer-science-from-mit/284127/|accessdate=April 19, 2014|newspaper=The Atlantic|date=March 5, 2014}} she left academia in 1987 to join Lotus, where she directed its Product Design Group,{{cite web|title=Irene Greif|date=January 23, 2003|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/witexhibit/wit_fellows_greif.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050120102735/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/witexhibit/wit_fellows_greif.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 20, 2005|publisher=IMB|accessdate=April 19, 2014}} and created the Lotus Research group in 1992.{{cite web|last=Morse|first=Merry|title=IBM Fellow Irene Greif Retires – A Pioneer in Building Workplaces that Work|url=http://ctr4socialsoft.blogspot.com/2013/11/ibm-fellow-irene-greif-retires-pioneer.html|publisher=IBM Research Center for Social Business|accessdate=April 20, 2014|date=November 19, 2013}} After Lotus was acquired by IBM, she became an IBM Fellow and served as director of collaborative user experience in the company's Thomas J. Watson Research Center.{{cite web|title=Irene Greif '69, SM '72, PhD '75 Knitting Together Computers and People|url=https://alum.mit.edu/news/AlumniProfiles/Archive/greif|publisher=MIT|accessdate=April 19, 2014|first=Eileen|last=McCluskey|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711141933/http://alum.mit.edu/news/AlumniProfiles/Archive/greif|archive-date=July 11, 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last=Twentyman|first=Jessica|title=IT role model: People must be the centre of technology|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/44df39ac-3e8c-11de-9a6c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2zMxqaLUN|accessdate=April 19, 2014|newspaper=Financial Times|date=May 13, 2009}} Greif retired from IBM in 2013.

Greif is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM); she is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Her awards include Women in Technology International Hall of Fame inductee (2000), Women Entrepreneurs in Science and Technology Leadership Award (2008), and ABIE Award for Technical Leadership from the Anita Borg Institute (2012).{{cite web|title=News Senior Technical Woman Profile: Irene Greif, IBM Fellow and Chief Scientist for Social Business, IBM|url=http://anitaborginstitute.org/news/archive/senior-technical-woman-profile-irene-greif-ibm-fellow-and-chief-scientist-for-social-business-ibm/|publisher=Anita Borg Institute|accessdate=April 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420012035/http://anitaborginstitute.org/news/archive/senior-technical-woman-profile-irene-greif-ibm-fellow-and-chief-scientist-for-social-business-ibm/|archive-date=April 20, 2014|url-status=usurped}}{{Cite news|url=https://anitaborg.org/profiles/abie-award-winners/irene-greif/|title=Irene Greif - AnitaB.org|date=October 1, 2012|work=AnitaB.org|language=en-US|access-date=August 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807233631/https://anitaborg.org/profiles/abie-award-winners/irene-greif/|archive-date=August 7, 2017|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url=https://anitaborg.org/awards-grants/abie-awards/|title=Abie Awards - AnitaB.org|work=AnitaB.org|language=en-US|access-date=August 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807232722/https://anitaborg.org/awards-grants/abie-awards/|archive-date=August 7, 2017|url-status=dead}}

Greif is featured in the Notable Women in Computing cards.{{Cite web| title = Notable Women in Computing| url = http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/wikipedia/cards.html}}

Personal life

Greif is married to Albert R. Meyer, the Hitachi America Professor of Computer Science at MIT. Greif, who is Jewish,{{cite web|last=Weinberg|first=Sarah|title=Living by Their Own Codes|url=http://jwa.org/blog/living-by-their-own-codes|publisher=Jewish Women's Archive|accessdate=April 19, 2014|date=March 17, 2014}} has a son and daughter, as well as two step-children, and lives in Newton Centre, Massachusetts.{{cite news|last=McCluskey|first=Eileen|title=Irene Greif '69, SM '72, PhD '75 Knitting together computers and people|url=http://www.technologyreview.com/article/410994/irene-greif-69-sm-72-phd-75/|accessdate=April 19, 2014|newspaper=MIT Technology Review|date=October 20, 2008}}

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