Nancy M. Amato

Nancy M. Amato, Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering and department head of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, works at the intersection of robotics, parallel and distributed computing, computational geometry and biology.

Her research group has developed novel algorithms and new realms of application from robotic task and motion planning to computer-aided design, virtual and augmented reality, protein folding and computing with biological neurons. She is passionate about broadening participation in the field of computing.

Amato is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.