Mary Shaw, the Alan J. Perlis University Professor of Computer Science in Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Software Research, will receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Barack Obama during a White House ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 20.

The full ceremony, currently scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m., will be live-streamed at www.WH.gov/live. The medal is the nation's highest honor for achievement in the field of technology, innovation and invention.

Shaw, who earned her Ph.D. in computer science at CMU and has been a faculty member since 1971, is a leader in software engineering research. Her work on software architecture — the large-scale structure of software systems — helped establish it as a recognized discipline. Selecting an appropriate architecture is now recognized as a critical step in the engineering of complex software systems for everything from the anti-lock braking systems in cars to the international banking system.

She is also an educational innovator who has developed computer science curricula from the introductory to the doctoral level, including graduate programs targeted at software professionals.

Previous winners of the National Medal of Technology from CMU include Charles Geschke, the co-founder of Adobe Systems and a 1973 Ph.D. graduate in computer science; the late Watts Humphrey, a fellow of CMU's Software Engineering Institute; the late alumna Stephanie Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar who earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1946; and Gordon Bell, a renowned computer designer at Digital Equipment Corp. and Microsoft, and a former computer science faculty member.