Diane Souvaine, professor of computer science at Tufts University, was elected a 2011 fellow of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) for her work in computational geometry.

Computational geometry, or the study of algorithms to understand geometric problems, is used in the development of structures to retrieve and store data. As these technological processes become increasingly integral to everyday life, Souvaine has contributed to the goal of organizing data to decrease necessary storage space and make retrieval quicker.

After earning an MSE in electrical engineering and computer science in 1984 and a Ph.D. in computer science in 1986, both from Princeton, Souvaine joined the faculty at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. During 12 years there, she contributed to the founding of the National Science Foundation’s Science and Technology Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science. At Tufts, Souvaine founded the Discrete Math Workshop (later known as the Institute on Problem Solving and Discrete Mathematics), working with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education, specialists in local school districts and Tufts colleagues. She is also currently serving on the National Science Board, together with Princeton professor Bonnie Bassler, Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology and director of the Council on Science and Technology

Souvaine was one of 46 fellows elected in 2011 to ACM, which is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society and provider of the ACM Digital Library. The Fellows Program, established in 1993, recognizes and honors outstanding ACM members for their achievements in computer science and information technology.