Christine Alvarado

Christine Alvarado serves as the Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Education Innovation at the University of California, San Diego, while holding the Paul R. Kube Endowed Chair and serving as Teaching Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Her career at UCSD, which began in 2012, includes prior roles as Associate Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education, Vice Chair for Undergraduate Education in the Computer Science and Engineering department, and Associate Dean for Students in the Jacobs School of Engineering. Before joining UCSD, she was a tenured associate professor of computer science at Harvey Mudd College. She received her B.A. in computer science from Dartmouth College in 1998, graduating summa cum laude, an S.M. in computer science from MIT in 2000, and a Ph.D. in computer science from MIT in 2004.

Alvarado's research in computer science education centers on designing curricula and programs to enhance accessibility to computing, particularly for underrepresented groups. Her publications include foundational work on sketch recognition, such as "SketchREAD: A Multi-domain Sketch Recognition Engine" (2004) and "LogiSketch: A Free Sketch Digital Circuit Design and Simulation System" (2013), as well as studies on undergraduate research, retention, and diversity like "ERSP: A Structured CS Research Program for Early-College Students" (2016), "Increasing women's participation in computing at Harvey Mudd College" (2012), and "A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship Between Early Undergraduate Research and Academic Outcomes in Computer Science" (2024). She has received the NSF CAREER award (2005), A. Richard Newton Educator ABIE Award (2013), UC San Diego Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award (2017), UC San Diego Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching (2019), inaugural NCWIT Academic Alliance Joanne McGrath Cohoon Academic Service Award (2022), and was named a Distinguished Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (2018). Alvarado serves as Chief Reader for the AP Computer Science Principles exam (2025-2029), co-leads the CRA's UR2PhD program, and led the 2022 launch of the Center for Inclusive Computing's Transfer Pathways program.

Professional Email: cjalvarado@ucsd.edu