Cecilia Rodriguez Aragon recently served as the director of the Human-Centered Data Science Lab at the University of Washington.

Her research focuses on helping people explore and gain insights from large datasets.

Aragon's work encompasses various areas, including visual analytics (which combines visualization and machine learning), data science and big data, emotions in informal text communication, and "Games for Good," which involves collaborative educational games.

Early in her career, Aragon specialized in theoretical computer science.

She co-invented a type of binary search tree where each node has both a key and a priority, and the randomized search tree, which employs random priorities in treaps to achieve optimal average-case performance.

Aragon earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology in 1982, her master’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1987, and her Ph.D. in computer science from the same institution in 2004.

In 2008, Aragon received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.

The awards are presented annually at the White House. Additionally, Aragon was the architect behind Sunfall, a visual analytics system for supernova astrophysics.

She also developed an augmented-reality visualization system for helicopter pilots, which enhanced their ability to land safely during simulated hazardous conditions.

In 2015, she received the HCDE Faculty Innovator in Research Award from the University of Washington.

That same year, she was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award in Computer Science from UC Berkeley, as well as the student-nominated Faculty Innovator in Teaching Award from her department at UW.

Aragon has served as the principal investigator or co-principal investigator for over $27 million in grants from prestigious organizations, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Washington Research Foundation, the UW Center for Commercialization, Microsoft, and Intel.

Before her role at the University of Washington, she worked as a computer scientist and data scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for six years and at NASA Ames Research Center for nine years.

Prior to that, she was an airshow and test pilot, an entrepreneur, and a member of the United States Aerobatic Team. She is also a champion aerobatic pilot.