Born: 1933 (Bratislava, Czechoslovakia)
Biography:
Ruzena Bajcsy, an American engineer and computer scientist specializing in robotics, has made significant contributions to the field throughout her career. Born in 1933 in Bratislava, which was then part of Czechoslovakia and is now Slovakia, she grew up in a Jewish family. While her father’s work as a civil engineer initially spared her family from Nazi concentration camps, tragically, most of her adult relatives were killed by the Nazis in late 1944.
Bajcsy and her sister were supported as war orphans by the Red Cross, and she was placed in orphanages and foster care. Despite her talent in mathematics, she decided to pursue electrical engineering rather than mathematics in university. At the time, the career options for mathematics students in Communist Eastern Europe primarily led to teaching, which required a commitment to Marxist-Leninist ideology that she was unwilling to provide.
She obtained her Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Slovak Technical University in 1957 and 1967, respectively. Later, in 1972, she earned an additional Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University. Her dissertation titled Computer Identification of Textured Visual Scenes was supervised by renowned computer scientist John McCarthy.
Bajcsy’s brilliance in her field led to several notable positions in academia and research. She served as a professor and chair of computer science and engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where she founded the University of Pennsylvania’s General Robotics and Active Sensory Perception (GRASP) Laboratory. Her achievements also extended into the medical field, as she was a member of the Neurosciences Institute in the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Furthermore, Bajcsy held the prestigious role of head of the National Science Foundation’s Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate. In this position, she had authority over a substantial $500 million budget dedicated to advancing computer and information science research and development.
Bajcsy’s influence in the field of robotics is significant, particularly in her work on computer vision and artificial intelligence. She has supervised at least 26 doctoral students who went on to receive their Ph.D.s at the University of Pennsylvania, demonstrating her commitment to nurturing the next generation of scientists and engineers. Her research has contributed to advancements in robotic perception, human-robot interaction, and medical robotics.
In recognition of her outstanding contributions, Bajcsy was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2005. Additionally, in 2002, Discover magazine honored her by including her on its list of the 50 most important women in science. She has also received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, the University of Pennsylvania, and KTH, The Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.
Despite facing personal hardships and challenges in her early life, Ruzena Bajcsy’s perseverance and dedication to the field of robotics have established her as a renowned figure. Her achievements have not only advanced the capabilities of robots but have also inspired countless individuals, particularly women, to pursue careers in science and engineering.
Awards:
– Elected member of the American Philosophical Society (2005)
– Included in Discover magazine’s list of the 50 most important women in science (2002)
– Received honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, the University of Pennsylvania, and KTH, The Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden.