Rate My Professor Valerie Valerie

Valerie Barr is the Margaret Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Bard College, where she also directs the Bard Network Computing Initiative. She earned her BA in Applied Mathematics from Mount Holyoke College in 1977, MS in Computer Science from New York University in 1979, and PhD in Computer Science from Rutgers University in 1996. During her graduate studies, she taught at Pratt Institute, Rutgers University, Mount Holyoke College, and Polytechnic University. Barr's career includes faculty positions at Hofstra University from 1995 to 2004, Union College from 2004 to 2017 where she served as department chair, and Mount Holyoke College from 2017 to 2022 as the Jean E. Sammet Professor and department chair. In 2013-2014, she was a program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Undergraduate Education. At Bard since 2022, she directs the Data Analytics minor and serves on the steering committee for Experimental Humanities. She is co-PI for the Alliance for Interdisciplinary Innovation in Computing Education and a member of the Liberal Arts Computer Science Consortium.

Barr's research specializations include computer science education for diverse student populations, interdisciplinary applications of computing, reanalysis of degree attainment data by gender, race, and ethnicity, and software testing for artificial intelligence and natural language processing systems. She has significantly influenced the field through leadership as chair of ACM's Committee on Women in Computing from 2012 to 2017, organizing scholarships for women at conferences, and national efforts to broaden participation in computing. Major awards include election as a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, ACM Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award in 2016, and ACM Distinguished Member in 2019. Key publications encompass 'What Must All Post-Secondary Students Learn About Computing?' in Communications of the ACM (2022), 'Bringing Computational Thinking to K-12: What is Involved and What is the Role of the Computer Science Education Community?' in ACM Inroads (2011), 'Visualizing Progress in Broadening Participation in Computing: The Value of Context' (2024), and 'Different Denominators, Different Results: Reanalyzing CS Degrees by Gender, Race, and Ethnicity' in ACM Inroads (2018). She delivered the Baccalaureate address at Bard College in 2025 and has contributed op-eds on AI adoption in computer science programs.