Christine Julien has been appointed head of the Department of Computer Science, effective Aug. 12.

Julien comes to Virginia Tech from the University of Texas at Austin, where she has served as the Annis and Jack Bowen Professor of Engineering in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and as associate dean for broadening participation in engineering for the Cockrell School of Engineering.

“We are excited to welcome Christine to the Virginia Tech College of Engineering. Her deep disciplinary expertise and previous leadership role in a high performing college of engineering provide the ideal balance of experience to lead our rapid growth in computer science," said Julie Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Dean of Engineering. “I look forward to working with Christine to implement her many innovative ideas for the department.”

Julien will replace interim department head Danfeng “Daphne” Yao, a cybersecurity expert who was tapped to serve after former head Cal Ribbens announced he would step down. Ribbens served nine years in the role and oversaw the department during a time of unprecedented enrollment growth.

"I want to thank Cal for all he's done to continue recruiting and retaining world-class researchers and for his commitment to instill a strong sense of community and collegiality among faculty, staff, and students. My thanks also goes out to Daphne Yao for assisting with this transition in leadership," Ross said.

Connecting networks and people

At the University of Texas at Austin, Julien led the formation of the $1.2 million Center for Equity in Engineering. Her work garnered $11 million in external research funding, including a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation, a Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, as well as awards from the Department of Defense and Freescale Semiconductors, and she has published more than 175 archived journal and conference papers.

Julien’s research has focused on engineering software that supports a range of smart devices and environments. Her projects include using advanced networking technologies to provide opportunities for children to move independently around their neighborhoods while staying safe through remote connections to parents and guardians. She also has worked to improve sensing and networking for the Internet of Things, which connects a vast range of everyday devices to networks and to each other — and is a critical piece of creating smart homes, office buildings, and public spaces.

Julien said she wants to build on the department's successes and help shape the development of research and graduate studies at and around the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus set to open next year near Washington, D.C.

“One of the most exciting and challenging things about this job is increasing the visibility and connectedness of the Blacksburg campus to our Northern Virginia operations,” Julien said. “I see both areas as having one vision, one mission, and my role is helping integrate them. They are not separate things. It's lofty, but it’s exciting for me to help craft that future.”

Computing that changes lives

Julien said she never meant to be a computer scientist. In fact, she was on a pre-medical track before enrolling in one course that changed her future.

“I saw the fact that whether I was interested in it or not, computer science was going to be part of my future. I needed to at least be familiar with it,” Julien said. “I took one class, and I was hooked.”

Since then, her career has led her to a role helping open up computer science and engineering education to the broadest range of students and faculty possible. And it’s a big part of the job she will step into this fall.  

The department she will now lead is part of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Tech Talent Investment Program, a $2 billion partnership between higher education, donors, and industry partners to double the number of computer science-related degrees awarded annually in the state.

Because computer science will touch every aspect of global society in the coming years, building degree programs open to anyone with the curiosity and ambition to pursue them is a major focus of the department, the College of Engineering, and of Virginia Tech. 

To support these and similar efforts, the university has initiated Virginia Tech Advantage, a multiyear, universitywide effort to offer a broad educational experience to undergraduate students from Virginia who have demonstrated financial need. Virginia Tech Global Distinction — another top university priority — seeks to elevate the international prominence of the university and strengthen its capacity to act as a force for positive change.

“It's going to take everybody in Virginia having an opportunity to study computer science, if they want to do it,” Julien said. “And I think that there's a great potential to do that in Virginia right now that I don’t see in many other places. I’m excited to get to work.”

Julien earned her doctoral, master’s, and bachelor’s degrees in computer science from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. She also completed a bachelor's degree in biology at the same institution.