NCWIT is thrilled to name Dr. Judy Goldsmith, Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky, the recipient of the 2025 Harrold and Notkin Research and Graduate Mentoring Award.
The award, sponsored by the NCWIT Board of Directors, recognizes faculty members who have combined outstanding research accomplishments with excellence in graduate mentoring, as well as those who advocate for equity in computing fields at both local and national levels. It is awarded in memory of Mary Jean Harrold and David Notkin to honor their outstanding research, graduate mentoring, and efforts to broaden participation in computing.
Dr. Goldsmith earned her A.B. in Mathematics from Princeton University in 1982 and her Ph.D. in Mathematics (with a minor in Computer Science) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1988. Her early career included positions as a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, research instructor at Dartmouth College, and National Science Foundation (NSF) visiting professor at Boston University. She joined the University of Manitoba computer science faculty in 1991, where she served on the Advisory Committee to Vice President on Women in Science and Engineering and as an organizer of the Women in Computer Science and Engineering Lecture Series. In 1993, she moved to the University of Kentucky.
In 1996, Dr. Goldsmith began focusing her research on Artificial Intelligence (AI). She is interested in stochastic modeling, especially as applied in AI, and she runs a weekly AI seminar that encourages undergraduates to explore research topics. She is also an associate editor for the Artificial Intelligence Journal and serves on program committees for several AI conferences.
More recently, she has expanded her research efforts to include ethics. She works to actively incorporate research into her own undergraduate and graduate classroom teaching, developing assignments and teaching methodologies for both her AI course and her computer ethics course that require students to engage with the research literature, and she empowers them to do so, even if they do not pursue graduate school. Details of these assignments, along with curriculum suggestions and details of measurable outcomes including post-course surveys, have been published at multiple top computer science education venues, including in the ACM Transactions on Computer Science Education and the Association for Artificial Intelligence program on Education in Artificial Intelligence. Dr. Goldsmith has also been a part of multiple Birds of a Feather programs at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) SIGCSE conference, the largest CS education conference in the United States, detailing another course she runs that uses science fiction to engage students with research in AI. She also co-authored the textbook Computer and Technology Ethics: Engaging Through Science Fiction, published in 2023.
Throughout her time at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Goldsmith has been active in encouraging students from a variety of backgrounds to pursue graduate studies in computing. She has served on the Committee for Women’s Mentoring, the Women in Computer Science Committee, the Steering Committee for the Women’s Studies Program, and the College of Engineering Diversity Committee. Beyond her involvement at the University, Dr. Goldsmith is also actively engaged with outreach at other CS departments in the greater Kentucky region, including Morehead State University, Western Kentucky University, and Northern Kentucky University. She speaks annually to undergraduate and graduate students at these and other universities for recruitment, explains what it means to do research, and points them to potential sources of funding for graduate school.
Dr. Goldsmith has graduated more than two dozen Ph.D. and master’s students at the University of Kentucky. Many of her mentees identify as LGBTQ+, women, and students with disabilities, some of whom mentioned, in student testimonials, that they would not have persisted in the computing field had it not been for her. Dr. Goldsmith also advises additional graduate student mentees for whom she is not their formal advisor, including women and underrepresented people of color in CS.
In recommending Dr. Goldsmith for the award, her master’s advisee Cory Siler wrote, “When Dr. Goldsmith invited me to work on research for the first time, she took me seriously as a collaborator despite my inexperience. My initial role involved writing computer programs to run experiments, but when our paper encountered a few rejections from reviewers, she encouraged me to take a larger role in refining the design and writing each time. The experience helped me develop the tenacity and the high standards of scientific communication that a researcher needs, and we eventually transformed the paper into an award-winning submission.”
Siler added, “Dr. Goldsmith displays many qualities of an outstanding mentor: She makes people from marginalized groups feel welcome. She works with mentees’ individual human needs and limitations, while also recognizing their agency and cultivating their potential. And her investment in mentees extends far past where her duties as an instructor or supervisor end.”
Dr. Brent Harrison, Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky, noted in his recommendation of Dr. Goldsmith for this award, “In computer science, it can be difficult for women, as many departments are male dominated. We are incredibly lucky to have Judy, who serves as an excellent role model to all women in our department.” He further notes that she “is an excellent mentor to her own students, as well as any other students that seek out her aid. She has been an inspiration to me, and I try my best to follow her example when mentoring my own students. Her knowledge, patience, and kindness truly make her stand out as one of the best mentors I’ve had the privilege of working with.”
Dr. Goldsmith previously received the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS) Mentoring Award in 1998, the ACM Undergraduate Mentor Award in 2015, and the Computing Research Association’s Committee on Education (CRA-E) Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentoring Award in 2016.
NCWIT is delighted to recognize Dr. Goldsmith’s contributions as an educator, researcher, mentor, and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Kentucky and the computing field in general.
