Professor
Academic Degrees
Jennifer A. Polack-Wahl, Professor of Computer Science, earned a Ph.D. (1997) in computer science and engineering from the University of South Florida, an M.S. (1993) in computer science from Pace University, and a B.S. (1992) in computer science from the University of Scranton (Pennsylvania). She is the recipient of a 2006 ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE) Special Project Grant for “Facilitating Curriculum Material Adoption Using 3-D Virtual Collaboration Environments.” In addition, she has been awarded a UMW Jepson Fellowship for “Designing Computer Technology Learning Modules in the K-12 Curriculum.” Most recently, Dr. Polack-Wahl was awarded a 2011-2012 Mary Washington Faculty Development Grant for the project “iPod for Education: Teaching Resource for the Future.” Education apps prepared by Dr. Polack-Wahl and her students are being used by schools across the nation and are available for download on iTunes.
Dr. Polack-Wahl has had her work published in conference proceedings and several journals, including the Journal of Computing Science and Frontiers in Education. In addition, she is the EdSoc program co-chair for the Frontier in Education 2010 conference which is to be held in Washington, D.C., and she is the chair of the Virginia Central, Hampton Roads, Northern Virginia, and Richmond Chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers education society. She is a steering committee member for the Consortium of Computing Sciences Eastern Division and a member of the Computer Science Teacher Association, the Association of Computing Machinery, and ACM SIGCSE.