Northwestern Computer Science Recognizes Faculty Promotions

Northwestern Engineering’s Department of Computer Science has announced the promotions of Brenna Argall, Nikos Hardavellas, and Jessica Hullman to full professor, as well as the tenure and promotion of Eleanor O'Rourke, and tenure of associate professor Xinyu Xing.

All are effective September 1.

As specified by Northwestern’s Office of the Provost, tenure and promotion reflects a faculty member’s high level of distinction in the field and professional achievement in the areas of scholarship, creative work, research accomplishments and potential, service, and excellence in teaching.

“Celebrating faculty promotions is one of the personal joys of being chair,” said Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science in the McCormick School of Engineering. “I feel so fortunate to both hire amazing people and to mark the wonderful research and educational achievements of our amazing colleagues. I hope you will join me in congratulating this truly deserving group.”

Brenna Argall

Argall has been promoted to a full professor of computer science and mechanical engineering at Northwestern Engineering, and professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Argall and her Assistive and Rehabilitation Robotics Laboratory (argallab) team at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab incorporate robotics autonomy and intelligence into physically assistive machines to advance human autonomy and enable life-changing independent mobility through shared control between the robot and the human user.

The argallab aims to develop machine automation customizable to a user’s physical abilities, personal preferences, and financial means. The team works with a range of hardware platforms, from smart wheelchairs to assistive robotic arms.

Argall was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering’s (AIMBE) College of Fellows in 2023.

Nikos Hardavellas

Hardavellas has been promoted to a full professor of computer science and electrical and computer engineering at Northwestern Engineering.

Hardavellas’s Parallel Architecture Group at Northwestern (PARAG@N) investigates energy-efficient computing, working across the hardware and software stacks to address energy inefficiencies and power constraints. The team aims to achieve high-performance parallel computing through cross-layer design, from emerging devices and circuits, to computer architecture, compilers, runtimes, operating systems, and applications.

Hardavellas’s recent work focuses on quantum chiplets, quantum error mitigation, programmable memory systems, and open hardware.

This year, Hardavellas was named to the inaugural cohort of Future Computing Research Association (CRA) Leaders.

Jessica Hullman

Hullman has been promoted to a full professor of computer science. In 2021, she was named a Ginni Rometty Professor of Computer Science, established by IBM in honor of Northwestern University trustee Virginia M. “Ginni” Rometty (ʼ79, ʼ15 H).

Combining principles of statistical learning, interactive interfaces, and human reasoning under uncertainty, Hullman’s research focuses on methods for quantifying uncertainty and evaluating people’s interactions with statistical models.

Hullman and her students have developed visualization techniques, interactive tools, and theoretical frameworks aimed at improving how people draw inferences from data under uncertainty. She is frequently invited to speak across disciplines on topics related to representing uncertainty and she blogs as a regular contributor to Statistical Modeling, Causal Inference, and Social Science.

Hullman was appointed to the 2024 cohort of faculty associates at Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research.

Eleanor O'Rourke

O'Rourke received tenure and was promoted to associate professor of computer science at Northwestern Engineering and associate professor of learning sciences at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy.

A codirector of the Delta Lab interdisciplinary research lab and design studio, O’Rourke is also a founding faculty member of the joint PhD program in Computer Science and Learning Sciences.

O’Rourke’s research intersects human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, and the learning sciences. Her team designs, builds, and studies innovative learning environments that help students in introductory computer science courses improve their self-assessments, build metacognitive skills, and develop effective learning practices.

O’Rourke’s interdisciplinary approach involves collecting data from a variety of sources (interviews, observations, surveys, interaction logs, sensors) and applying mixed methods, including design-based research, grounded theory, lab studies, and formal experiments.

Xinyu Xing

Xing received tenure as an associate professor of computer science at Northwestern Engineering.

Xing, whose research focus includes kernel security, reverse engineering, and AI security, regularly participates in flagship security summits and competitions with his current and former students, including BlackHat, DEF CON, Pwn2Own, and the USENIX Security Symposium.

As part of the AI Cyber Challenge's Small Business Track Competition, Xing’s Team 42-b3yond-6ug, Net Shield LLC was among the seven companies awarded $1 million by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop AI-enabled cyber reasoning systems that automatically find and fix software vulnerabilities at scale.