{"693687":{"#nid":"693687","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Computing Celebrates Its New Rising Stars and Hall of Fame Inductees","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Computing community gathered on October 23 for its annual Hall of Fame celebration, honoring members who have transformed our College and the field of computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAbout 160 people gathered for the formal evening event. During the ceremony, honorees received one of three awards: Rising Stars, Distinguished Impact, and Hall of Fame.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTheir accomplishments remind us that the success of our College is ultimately about people,\u201d said \u003Cstrong\u003EVivek Sarkar\u003C\/strong\u003E, John P. Imlay Jr. Dean of Computing. \u201cPeople who teach, mentor, and support our students, those who advance the frontiers of research, those who build companies and organizations, and those who give back to strengthen the community that helped shape them.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe first awards of the evening recognized the contributions and achievements of recent GT Computing alumni who are already making an impact. The 2026 Rising Stars recipients are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e70836c336bec366d4a096944f8b4c914\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAli Foreman\u003C\/strong\u003E (CM 2017) \u2013 Based in Los Angeles, Foreman is a features writer for IndieWire covering media, entertainment, and accountability. She is known for sensitive, data-driven investigations that make complex issues accessible.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e2c7df7b5b1b80fe658de2a54794b3a60\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERushad Kaizad Heerjee\u003C\/strong\u003E (CS 2014; MS QCF 2017) \u2013 As head of international growth at Brain Co., Heerjee brings AI to governments and enterprises. He spent seven years at Palantir working across seven countries and holds seven patents.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022ee9971de6d4f079b30b1dfe8499ccd5d8\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETamer Shaaban\u003C\/strong\u003E (CS 2011) \u2013 Shaaban is a writer and award-winning director working at the intersection of computing and cinema; he directs global campaigns for Audi, Samsung, and the United Nations.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Ch5\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgatech.canto.com%2Fb%2FL33H7\u0026amp;data=05%7C02%7Casnedeker7%40gtvault.onmicrosoft.com%7Cfdc0798e14eb45224c5a08df36abb20d%7C482198bbae7b4b258b7a6d7f32faa083%7C1%7C0%7C639289783201594913%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C\u0026amp;sdata=CYEsTR9MO4nzlpAXmt05mvIk3HWaWRAjlp%2BU%2Fu8fq0w%3D\u0026amp;reserved=0\u0022\u003E[PHOTO GALLERY: 2026 GT Computing Hall of Fame Celebration, Oct. 23]\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/h5\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe College\u2019s inaugural Distinguished Impact Awards went to members of our community who have left a lasting mark on the College, including alumni, friends, faculty, and staff:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e6addb9e7501394ac0250e48c2bc37b0e\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBill Leahy\u003C\/strong\u003E (MS CS 1999) \u2013 Senior Lecturer Emeritus: Corning engineer turned computer scientist who became a beloved Georgia Tech teacher; the College\u2019s best lecturer award bears his name.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e9fe80f8246c2be6f35d9b05a6ec97a2f\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMojgan LeFebvr\u003C\/strong\u003Ee (CS 1990) \u2013 EVP and Chief Technology \u0026amp; Operations Officer, Travelers: Travelers executive leading technology, AI, and operations; drove its award-winning AI strategy and serves on Georgia Tech\u2019s President\u2019s Advisory Board.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022ec7d4fffc758c6b7f0b2bbbddf5b41f17\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDavid Bright Leonard\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Director Emeritus of Academic and Research Technologies: Built the College\u2019s computing services after founding Dean \u003Cstrong\u003EPeter\u003C\/strong\u003E \u003Cstrong\u003EFreeman\u003C\/strong\u003E recruited him in 1991; later led research technologies at OIT.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022ebae962291073978c991a41431aa90446\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJoshua Silver\u003C\/strong\u003E (CS 2001) \u2013 Founder and CEO, Rainforest: Serial payments entrepreneur who co-founded healthcare payments startup Patientco, now part of Waystar, and leads Rainforest, a payments-as-a-service company for software platforms.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e70e708ffca2686d70267f702564ecff5\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESheetal Wrzesien\u003C\/strong\u003E (CS 1994) \u2013 in memoriam, Former Senior Director of Digital Platforms, GoTo Foods: Technology leader at The Home Depot, Google, and GoTo Foods; College Advisory Board member and advocate for women in technology.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe highlight of the evening was the induction of the new Hall of Famers, who have significantly contributed to computing and computing education over the years. The GT Computing 2026 Hall of Fame inductees are:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e2e0c1edd981e6df252cf0e7b45ccd7a3\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGregory Abowd\u003C\/strong\u003E \u2013 Former Regents\u2019 Professor and J.Z. Liang Endowed Professor in the School of Interactive Computing; former Dean of the College of Engineering at Northeastern University: HCI pioneer who launched Classroom 2000 and the Aware Home, advanced autism technology research, and founded the Atlanta Autism Consortium.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e500abb03f4d1d8a631f694d172e99612\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERichard DeMillo\u003C\/strong\u003E (PhD ICS 1972) \u2013 Charlotte B. and Roger C. Warren Chair in Computing, Georgia Tech: Former Dean of the College of Computing, Hewlett-Packard CTO, founder of the Center for 21st Century Universities, and founding interim chair of the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022ed39c0685a4349c4abec727732d6066a0\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPaul Judge\u003C\/strong\u003E (MS CS 2001; PhD CS 2002) \u2013 Managing Partner, Open Opportunity Fund: Computer scientist turned entrepreneur who co-founded Purewire, Luma, and Pindrop, holds more than 30 patents, and has backed more than 100 startups.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e0af80db8ffce2c0ccf581e213a653586\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EElizabeth Mynatt\u003C\/strong\u003E (MS ICS 1989; PhD CS 1995) \u2013 Dean, Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University: Human-centered computing pioneer and 23-year Georgia Tech faculty member who led the Institute for People and Technology; an ACM Fellow.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli data-list-item-id=\u0022e759f5f2659342af06e03306598306758\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAndy Ozmen\u003C\/strong\u003Et (CS 2000) \u2013 EVP and Chief Technology Risk Officer, Capital One: Cybersecurity leader and Marshall Scholar; former DHS Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, White House cyber policy lead, and Goldman Sachs CISO.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E2024 Hall of Fame class member \u003Cstrong\u003EEugene Spafford\u003C\/strong\u003E attended the ceremony and was also honored. Spafford is a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University; Founder and Executive Director Emeritus of CERIAS, a cybersecurity pioneer who originated digital forensics and introduced the modern security meaning of \u201cfirewall.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Computing community gathered on October 23 for its annual Hall of Fame celebration, honoring \u0022those who advance the frontiers of research, those who build companies and organizations, and those who give back...\u0022 About 160 people gathered for the formal evening event, which included three award categories: Rising Stars, Distinguished Impact, and Hall of Fame.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The GT Computing community gathered recently to recognize \u0022those who advance the frontiers of research, those who build companies and organizations, and those who give back...\u0022"}],"uid":"32045","created_gmt":"2026-11-02 16:10:52","changed_gmt":"2026-11-02 18:41:18","author":"Ben Snedeker","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-11-02T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2026-11-02T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681617":{"id":"681617","type":"image","title":"GTComputing-Hall-of-Fame-2026-Buzz-welcome.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EBuzz points to the welcome sign for the 2026 GT Computing Hall of Fame celebration. Photo by Terence Rushin\/GT Computing\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1793636066","gmt_created":"2026-11-02 16:14:26","changed":"1793636066","gmt_changed":"2026-11-02 16:14:26","alt":"Buzz points to welcome sign for the 2026 GT Computing Hall of Fame celebration","file":{"fid":"266049","name":"GTComputing-Hall-of-Fame-2026-Buzz-welcome.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/11\/02\/GTComputing-Hall-of-Fame-2026-Buzz-welcome_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/11\/02\/GTComputing-Hall-of-Fame-2026-Buzz-welcome_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":145962,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/11\/02\/GTComputing-Hall-of-Fame-2026-Buzz-welcome_0.jpg?itok=PKiNKke7"}}},"media_ids":["681617"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAnn Claycombe\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech College of Computing\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["claycombe@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}