Beth Mynatt Named Regents’ Professor

The University System of Georgia (USG)’s Board of Regents has appointed College of Computing Distinguished Professor and Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) Executive Director Beth Mynatt as Regents’ Professor.

Regents’ Professorships represent the highest academic and research recognition granted by the USG and demonstrate distinction and achievement in research both nationally and internationally. The Georgia Tech Office of the President, Office of the Provost, College of Computing, and other faculty unanimously recommended Mynatt for the recognition.

“Beth Mynatt is really a perfect example of what a Regents’ Professor should be," said Zvi Galil, John P. Imlay Jr. Chair and dean of the Georgia Tech College of Computing. "She is a world-leading researcher in human-computer interaction and helped shape the computing field through her leadership at the Computing Community Consortium. At Georgia Tech, she has brought considerable leadership to the College of Computing – first as Director of the GVU Center, and now as the founding director of IPaT. She is a true leader in the field.”

Over the past 15 years, Mynatt’s research has focused on the role of ubiquitous computing in health. She’s worked with several partners, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Columbia Medical, to understand the design and adoption of socio-technical computer-based systems that enable people to alter their behavior as a means of improving their health.

She’s now principal investigator on the MyPath project, an application that provides breast cancer patients with personalized recommendations during their cancer journey. The National Cancer Institute has sponsored the research, and it was also featured in a report to President Barack Obama by the President’s Cancer Panel.

Mynatt joined the College of Computing faculty in 1998 and is currently a Distinguished Professor in the School of Interactive Computing for her commitment to advancing computer science. She’s also executive director of the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) and director of the Everyday Computing Lab where she investigates the design and evaluation of health information technologies. Previously, she was director of the GVU Center for six years.

“Beth’s impact to the computing community goes far beyond the research she has spearheaded as a professor at Georgia Tech,” said Ayanna Howard, chair, Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing. “She is not only a leader among her peers and to the students within her charge, but she has impacted the wider computing community as well. Her contributions as a faculty member in the School of Interactive Computing are immeasurable."

Mynatt also represents Georgia Tech in the broader computing community. She’s a current council member, past chair and vice chair of the Computing Community Consortium, a member of the SIGCHI Academy, and a member of the National Academies’ Computer Science and Telecommunications Board. In 2015, the Association of Computing Machinery selected her as a fellow.

A Georgia Tech alumnus, Mynatt received her master’s degree and Ph.D. in computer science from the Institute.

She joins Surya Kalidindi, professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Gerhard J. (John) Krige, Melvin Kranzberg Professor in the History of Technology in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and Haesun Park, professor of Computational Science and Engineering in the College of Computing and director of the Center for Data Analytics as Georgia Tech's newest Regents' Professors. The Board of Regents also named Margaret L. Loper, principal research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute as Regents’ Researcher.