Director, Master of Software Engineering Program
University of California, Irvine

Cristina (Crista) Lopes is a Professor in the School of Computer Sciences at University of California, Irvine, with research interests in Programming Languages, Software Engineering, and Distributed Virtual Environments. She is an IEEE Fellow, an ACM Distinguished Scientist, a twice-elected member of the SIGPLAN Executive Committee, and Editor in Chief of The Art, Science, and Engineering of Programming. She is the recipient of the 2016 Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest for her work in the OpenSimulator virtual world platform. She's also co-funder of Midspace, a virtual conference platform.