Rate My Professor Elizabeth Belding

Elizabeth Belding is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UC Santa Barbara in 2000, M.S. from the same institution in 1997, and dual B.S. degrees in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from Florida State University in 1996, where she graduated summa cum laude. Belding joined the UCSB faculty in 2000 as an Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005, and to Professor in 2009. She served two terms as Vice Chair of the Computer Science Department (2009-2015 and 2017-2019) and currently serves as Associate Dean and Faculty Equity Advisor in the College of Engineering. As founder and director of the Mobility Management and Networking (MOMENT) Laboratory, she leads research on wireless and mobile networks. Belding held the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship from 1997-2000 and received the NSF CAREER Award in 2004.

Belding's research specializes in mobile and wireless networking, including performance analysis, broadband measurement, and information and communication technologies for development (ICTD). She co-developed the Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks, which influenced IEEE 802.11s and Zigbee standards; the seminal paper, published in 1999, earned the 2018 ACM SIGMOBILE Test of Time Award. Her work addresses Internet accessibility in underserved communities, with projects in Zambia, South Africa, Mongolia, refugee camps, and Native American reservations across the US. She has authored over 180 technical papers, served on more than 80 conference program committees, and held editorial positions including Editor at Large for IEEE Transactions on Networking. Belding is an ACM Fellow (2018), IEEE Fellow (2014), and AAAS Fellow. She received the NCWIT Harrold and Notkin Research and Graduate Mentoring Award in 2015 and the UCSB Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award in 2012. Additionally, she chaired the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women at UCSB from 2014 to 2021.