Professor Wendy E. Mackay, a  research director with INRIA Saclay/Université Paris-Sud in France, has been appointed honorary doctor at Aarhus University on the background of her excellent research and ground-breaking results in relation to the design of innovative interactive computer systems. Mackay is a true pioneer in her field. Her research is internationally recognized, and she has been building bridges between academia and industry since the beginning of her career in the 1980s, and has worked with the American company the Digital Equipment Corporation and Xerox EuroPARK, among others.

Mackay’s current research focuses on the design of innovative interactive systems which actively take users’ specific contexts and needs into account. In order to move beyond the current generation of desktop environments and envision the next generation of interactive environments, her research team creates prototype interactive environments that explore what the next generation of interactive systems will look like.

Mackay has had a close relationship to Aarhus University since the mid-1980s. For example, she has been a visiting researcher at the Department of Computer Science, and has been involved in a various types of collaborative projects with researchers at the department over the years. Mackay’s research has received several international distinctions in the form of prizes and research fellowships, including an ERC Advanced Grant.

CV highlights:

PhD:   Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Management Technological innovation, 1990

MA: Northeastern University,  Experimental Psychology, 1979

BA:  University of California, San Diego, Honors Psychology, 1977

1998-2000: Visiting researcher, Aarhus University

2010 - : Visiting Researcher, Stanford University

2002 - : Research Director, Head of INSITU INRIA, Saclay, Île-de-France

Mackay’s honours and awards include ACM/CHI Academy, Phi Beta Kappa, Honors Psychology B.A., magna cum laude, California
Scholarship Federation, National Honor Society, Northeastern University Fellowship, Digital equip. GEEP Scholarship. She has also received the following best publication awards: CACM’93, COCS’93, IHM’09,CHI’09, CACM website and CHI’11. According to Google Scholar, she is among the most cited researchers in her field.