Dr. Mary Lou Maher is a Professor in the Department of Software and Information Systems at UNC Charlotte. She has held appointments at Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, Columbia University, University of Sydney, US National Science Foundation, and the University of Maryland before joining UNC Charlotte in 2012. At UNC Charlotte she is the Director of the Center for Education Innovation and the HCI Lab. Dr. Maher’s research interests include: human centered design for specialized populations such as the elderly, AI and cognitive models of creativity and curiosity, and active and adaptive learning for equitable education in computer science. She is the author or editor of 12 books and over 250 publications.