Catherine Plaisant

 Catherine Plaisant is Associate Director of Research of the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland. She earned a Doctorat d’Ingénieur degree in France in 1982 and has been conducting research in the field of human-computer interaction since then. In 1987, she joined Professor Shneiderman at the University of Maryland, where she has worked with students and members of the lab, throughout the growth of the field of human-computer interaction. Her research contributions range from focused interaction techniques to innovative visualizations validated with user studies to practical applications developed with industrial partners.