Mary Kenneth Keller: First US PhD in Computer Science

TL;DR

Mary Kenneth Keller was a pioneering computer scientist and educator who advocated for computer literacy, women in tech, and the transformative potential of computers, shaping early computer science education and inclusion.

Contribution

This paper highlights her groundbreaking role as the first US PhD in computer science and her pioneering efforts in education, AI, and promoting women in technology.

Findings

First US PhD in Computer Science in 1965.

Advocated for computer literacy and AI learning-by-example.

Worked to increase women's participation in tech.

Abstract

In June 1965, Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, BVM, received the first US PhD in Computer Science, and this paper outlines her life and accomplishments. As a scholar, she has the distinction of being an early advocate of learning-by-example in artificial intelligence. Her main scholarly contribution was in shaping computer science education in high schools and small colleges. She was an evangelist for viewing the computer as a symbol manipulator, for providing computer literacy to everyone, and for the use of computers in service to humanity. She was far ahead of her time in working to ensure a place for women in technology and in eliminating barriers preventing their participation, such as poor access to education and daycare. She was a strong and spirited woman, a visionary in seeing how computers would revolutionize our lives. A condensation of this paper appeared as, ``The Legacy of Mary Kenneth Keller, First U.S. Ph.D. in Computer Science," Jennifer Head and Dianne P. O'Leary, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 45(1):55--63, January-March 2023.