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IBM Fellow Emerita
Following completion of her master's degree in math at the University of Michigan in 1957, Allen joined the IBM Research division to teach FORTRAN to other researchers. "At the time, FORTRAN was revolutionary and a very exciting breakthrough in computing," she says, amazed at how far computer languages have come. "Java is fascinating; it's a paradigm that matches the new network computing opportunities."
Since the early 1960s, Allen, a scientist at IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center in Hawthorne, New York, has focused her attention on compilers and high-performance computing systems. Her pioneering compiler work culminated in algorithms and technologies that are the basis for the theory of program optimization today and are widely used throughout the industry. She is now launching a study on compilers with new systems and problems and exploring their uses. According to Allen, "The convergence of computing, communications, and digitization of information is letting us create new solutions in new ways. Computer languages and their compilers are a key to making this work."
Allen was not the first woman at IBM Research; in fact, she was one of many. "Later, as computing emerged as a specialized field, employers began to require engineering credentials, which traditionally attracted few women. But the pendulum is swinging back as women enter the field from other areas such as medical informatics, user interfaces and computers in education."
When she's not exploring new computing opportunities, Allen's passions are climbing mountains and studying environmental issues. She's a member of the American Alpine Club and the Alpine Club of Canada, particpating in exploratory expeditions to the Artic and on the Chinese/Tibet border.
See also: · 2002-08-06: Fran Allen: from "Fair Lady" to Fellow