Paula Hawthorn

Hawthorn was born in 1943 in Oklahoma City. Her parents separated soon after she was born, so she moved around frequently as a child with stints in Oklahoma, California, Texas and Indiana. She received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Houston with the intention of training as a math teacher. However, she was arrested for her involvement in a civil rights protest, making her ineligible to teach. In 1965, before graduating, she took a course on computers and became very interested in programming.{{Cite web|last=Abbate|first=Janet|date=2002-07-05|title=Oral-History:Paula Hawthorn - Engineering and Technology History Wiki|url=https://ethw.org/Oral-History:Paula_Hawthorn|access-date=2021-04-07|website=ethw.org}}

After completing her degree, she worked at Texaco in maintenance on credit card billing systems. She left the position when her children were born and later was interested in returning in a part-time capacity, but this was not permitted. She decided to return to school, and enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Houston. She was supervised by Steve Sherman. Hawthorn completed her master's in 1974 with a thesis entitled A performance evaluation of a CDC 6600 computer.{{Cite thesis|title=A performance evaluation of a CDC 6600 computer|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/performance-evaluation-of-a-cdc-6600-computer|date=1974|language=English|first=Paul Birdwell|last=Hawthorn}}

Encouraged by her supervisor, she applied to doctoral programs in computer science. She was awarded a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1979. Her thesis was on the topic of relational database performance.{{cite thesis |last1=Hawthorn |first1=Paula Birdwell |date=1979 |title=Evaluation and enhancement of the performance of relational database management systems |id={{ProQuest|302913535}} |oclc=7399419 |url=https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1979/7519.html }}{{psc|date=February 2024}} During her studies at Berkeley, she began working with Michael Stonebraker on the INGRES project where she was a key contributor.{{cite journal |last1=Rowe |first1=Lawrence A. |title=History of the Ingres Corporation |journal=IEEE Annals of the History of Computing |date=October 2012 |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=58–70 |doi=10.1109/MAHC.2012.51 |s2cid=16078334 }}{{Cite web|title=Ingres Verson 6.2 Reference Manual {{!}} EECS at UC Berkeley|url=https://www2.eecs.berkeley.edu/Pubs/TechRpts/1979/29174.html|access-date=2021-04-07|website=www2.eecs.berkeley.edu}} After graduating, she worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Hawthorn went on to work at Hewlett-Packard as a manager and then at a database startup Britton-Lee, where she became Vice President of Engineering. The company was one of the first to develop specialised standalone database systems for client/server applications.{{Cite web|last=Hayes|first=Frank|date=2003-05-19|title=The Story So Far|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2570048/the-story-so-far.html|access-date=2021-04-07|website=Computerworld|language=en}} She worked on efficiency comparisons for different types of processors in database machines.{{Cite book|last=Hawthorn|first=Paula|title=Proceedings of the 1981 ACM SIGMOD international conference on Management of data - SIGMOD '81 |chapter=The effect of target applications on the design of database machines |date=1981-04-29|location=Ann Arbor, Michigan|publisher=Association for Computing Machinery|pages=188–197|doi=10.1145/582318.582347|isbn=978-0-89791-040-8|s2cid=15558101|doi-access=free}}{{psc|date=February 2024}}

When Britton-Lee started to fail, she returned to HP before being hired as Vice President at Illustra.{{Cite journal|last1=Hughes|first1=T.P.|last2=Sheehan|first2=J.R.|date=Feb 1999|title=What has influenced computing innovation?|url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/745718|journal=Computer|volume=32|issue=2|pages=33–43|doi=10.1109/2.745718|url-access=subscription}} After Illustra was bought out, she stayed on for a short period before looking for other opportunities. She was hired by Informix, and then by Andromedia in 1997{{cite news |last1=Ginsberg |first1=Steve |title=Informix technology whiz bails out for Andromedia |id={{ProQuest|227667346}} |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/1997/10/20/newscolumn4.html |work=San Francisco Business Times |date=19 October 1997 |volume=12 |issue=9 |pages=15 }}{{Cite web|last=BENSON|first=COLLEEN|date=1997-10-13|title=PEOPLE IN BUSINESS -- PEOPLE IN BUSINESS|url=https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/PEOPLE-IN-BUSINESS-PEOPLE-IN-BUSINESS-2825575.php|access-date=2021-04-07|website=SFGATE|language=en-US}} (which was later acquired by Macromedia). She integrated Andromedia technology with Unicenter TNG{{cite press release |id={{ProQuest|444147551}} |date=12 March 1998 |publisher=Andromedia |title=Andromedia to integrate its ARIA software with CA's Unicenter TNG }} and donated software systems to UC Berkeley.{{cite press release |id={{ProQuest|446950800}} |publisher=Andromedia |date=6 April 1998 |title=Andromedia Donates Leading Web Site Activity Analysis Software to U.C. Berkeley }}

By 2002, Hawthorn was semi-retired, working part-time as a consultant.

Hawthorn has worked on various committees including the Lawler Award Committee and Advisory Panel on Professional Licensing in Software Engineering at the ACM.{{cite journal |last1=Allen |first1=Fran |last2=Hawthorn |first2=Paula |last3=Simons |first3=Barbara |title=Viewpoint: not now, not like this |journal=Communications of the ACM |date=February 2000 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=29 |doi=10.1145/328236.328118 |s2cid=36149779 |doi-access=free }}{{psc|date=February 2024}} She was on the Organization Committee for SIGMOD 1987.{{Cite web|title=SIGMOD 1987 – SIGMOD Website|url=https://sigmod.org/conferences/sigmod-1987/|access-date=2021-04-07|language=en-US}} In 2005, she worked on an ACM Voter Registration Database Study.{{Cite web|date=2006-02-16|title=ACM STUDY GROUP ISSUES VOTER REGISTRATION GUIDELINES TO ASSURE PRIVACY AND ACCURACY|url=https://www.acm.org/binaries/content/assets/public-policy/usacm/privacy-and-security/security-overview/vdr_press_release.pdf|access-date=2021-04-07}}{{Cite web|title=USACM Study on Voter Registration Databases|url=https://www.acm.org/public-policy/usacm-vrd|access-date=2021-04-07|website=www.acm.org|language=en}}

• 1996 EECS Distinguished Alumni Award from UC Berkeley.{{Cite web|last=Crowley|first=Magdalene L.|date=2019-12-19|title=The First Women of EECS|url=https://eecs.berkeley.edu/about/history/first-women|access-date=2021-04-07|website=EECS at UC Berkeley|language=en}}

Hawthorn married her first husband at the start of her undergraduate degree. Their first child was born in 1969 and the second 16 months later. The couple divorced when Hawthorn was pursuing her master's.

She met and married her second husband, Mike Ubell, during her Ph.D.

Hawthorn was involved in the search for Jim Gray, a computer scientist who went missing when sailing off the coast of California.{{cite magazine |last1=Silberman |first1=Steve |title=Inside the High Tech Hunt for a Missing Silicon Valley Legend |url=https://www.wired.com/2007/07/ff-jimgray-2/ |magazine=Wired |date=24 July 2007 }}

Hawthorn has a history of activism and advocacy, starting with civil rights protests in her undergrad days.

Hawthorn is an advocate for women in science and engineering. She started women's groups at Berkeley,{{Cite web|date=2018-03-04|title=Speakers|url=https://wicsereunion.wordpress.com/speakers/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=WICSE 40th Anniversary|language=en}} LBNL and HP. She was the first president of Berkeley's Women in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (WiCSE) founded in 1979.{{Cite web|date=2020-09-01|title=Women in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering: A Network of Our Own|url=https://newsletter.eecs.berkeley.edu/2020/09/wicse-history/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=Department Newsletter|language=en-US}} As an older student, single parent and woman at Berkeley, she was not perceived as a serious student. By this time, computer science had started to become more recognised as an engineering field with limited spaces and funding in university programs, neither of which were readily available to women.{{Cite web|last=Bindi|first=Tasnuva|date=2015-02-24|title=Women didn't just recently start coding, they actually STOPPED coding decades ago|url=https://www.startupdaily.net/2015/02/women-didnt-just-recently-start-coding-actually-stopped-coding-decades-ago/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=www.startupdaily.net}} To create more opportunities for minority students, Hawthorn, Barbara Simons and Sheila Humphreys created the Re-entry Program, an initiative through which students could take classes to increase their chances of admission to graduate programs.{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-24811-0_10 |chapter=Building Educational Infrastructures for Broadening Participation in Computing |title=Women and Underrepresented Minorities in Computing |series=History of Computing |date=2016 |last1=Aspray |first1=William |pages=223–259 |isbn=978-3-319-24809-7 }} She has also worked on programs to introduce disadvantaged students to information technology opportunities. Hawthorn is an advocate for affordable and accessible child care, particularly for student parents.

She is also the President of Soldiers Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Oakland,{{Cite web|date=2017-06-30|title=Oakland creates Department of Violence Prevention|url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/06/30/oakland-creates-department-of-violence-prevention/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=East Bay Times|language=en-US}} the Co-Chair of the Oakland/Alameda County Chapter of the  Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence, and a member of the Coalition for Police Accountability. She serves on the Oakland Community Policing Advisory Board.{{Cite web|title=City of Oakland: Members|url=https://oakland.granicus.com/boards/w/8552f8c4c0e15460/members/1535337|access-date=2021-04-07|website=oakland.granicus.com}}

Hawthorn is a board member of Make Oakland Better Now!{{Cite web|date=2014-04-16|title=Who We Are|url=https://oaktalk.com/who-we-are/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=OakTalk|language=en-US}} as well as Earthworks.{{Cite web|title=Carlson, Hawthorn and Ingraffea Join Board of Earthworks|url=https://www.earthworks.org/media-releases/carlson_hawthorn_and_ingraffea_join_board_of_earthworks/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=Earthworks|date=22 November 2011 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=2013 Earthworks Annual Report|url=https://www.earthworks.org/cms/assets/uploads/archive/files/publications/EWAnnualReport2013.pdf|access-date=2021-04-07}} She also sponsored a Rainforest Action Network project called REVEL: The Art of Activism.{{Cite web|title=Revel|url=https://www.ran.org/revel2018/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=Rainforest Action Network|language=en-US}}

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Category:American women computer scientists

Category:American computer scientists

Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

Category:University of Houston alumni

Category:Database researchers

Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American women

Category:Scientists from Oklahoma City