View source for Cecilia R. Aragon

{{short description|American computer scientist, author, and aerobatic pilot}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
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| nationality       = American
| fields            = [[Computer science]]
| workplaces        = [[University of Washington]] <br> [[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] <br> [[NASA Ames Research Center]]
| alma_mater        = [[California Institute of Technology]] ([[B. S.|BS]])<br>[[University of California, Berkeley]] ([[M. S.|MS]], [[PhD]])
| thesis_title      = Improving aviation safety with information visualization: Airflow hazard display for helicopter pilots
| thesis_url        = https://www.proquest.com/docview/305213155/
| thesis_year       = 2004
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Marti Hearst]]
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| known_for         = Co-invention of [[treap]] data structure
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| awards            = [[Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers]]
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| website           = {{URL|ceciliaaragonauthor.com}}
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}}

'''Cecilia Rodriguez Aragon''' is an American computer scientist, professor, author, and champion [[competition aerobatics|aerobatic]] pilot<ref>{{cite book |last=Ball |first=Edmund F. |year=1993 |title=Rambling Recollections of Flying and Fliers |publisher=Minnetrista Cultural Center |location=Muncie, Indiana |isbn=0-9623291-8-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Claudia |last=Miller |title=Berkeley Pilot Flies High in Aerobatics |newspaper=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |date=December 25, 1998}}</ref> who is best known as the co-inventor (with [[Raimund Seidel]]) of the [[treap]] data structure, a type of [[binary search tree]] that orders nodes by adding a priority as well as a key to each node.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Aragon |first1=C.R. |last2=Seidel |first2=R. G. |title=30th Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science |chapter=Randomized search trees |date=October 1989 |pages=540–45 |doi=10.1109/SFCS.1989.63531 |isbn=978-0-8186-1982-3 |publisher=IEEE Computer Society Press |location=Washington, D.C.|s2cid=47386481 }}</ref> She is also known for her work in data-intensive science and visual analytics of very large data sets, for which she received the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

==Education==
Aragon received her B.S. in mathematics from the [[California Institute of Technology]] in 1982, M.S. from the [[University of California, Berkeley]] in 1987 and, Ph.D. in computer science from the same institution in 2004. For her doctoral studies, Aragon worked under the direction of [[Marti Hearst]].<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Cecilia Rodriguez |last=Aragon |url=https://ti.arc.nasa.gov/m/pub-archive/911h/0911%20(Aragon).pdf |title=Improving Aviation Safety with Information Visualization: Airflow Hazard Display for Helicopter Pilots |institution=[[University of California, Berkeley]] |year=2004 |degree=PhD |id={{ProQuest|305213155}} |oclc=70627830}}</ref>

==Career==
She is a professor in the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering at the [[University of Washington]] in [[Seattle]]. Her research interests in the field of human-centered data science include [[E-Science|eScience]], scientific and information visualization, [[visual analytics]], image processing, collaborative creativity, analysis of spontaneous text communication, dynamic affect
detection, and games for good.<ref name="facultyprofile">{{cite web | url=http://faculty.washington.edu/aragon/ | title=Cecilia R. Aragon | publisher=Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering, University of Washington | access-date=February 16, 2013}}</ref> Prior to her appointment at UW, she was a computer scientist and data scientist at
[[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] for six years and [[NASA Ames Research Center]] for nine years, and before that, an airshow and test pilot, entrepreneur, and member of the United States Aerobatic Team.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Daredevils of the Sky |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/programs/2103_daredevi.html |series=NOVA |network=PBS |airdate=February 1, 1994 |number=3 |season=21 }}</ref>

=== Presidential Early Career Award ===
On July 9, 2009, Aragon received a [[Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers]], the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the_press_office/PRESIDENT-HONORS-OUTSTANDING-EARLY-CAREER-SCIENTISTS |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |title=President Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |date=July 9, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lbl.gov/cs/Archive/news070909.html |title=Cecilia Aragon Honored with the Presidential Early Career Award |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804104403/http://www.lbl.gov/cs/Archive/news070909.html |archive-date=August 4, 2009 |work=[[Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory]] |date=July 10, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

She was recognized for "seminal research in workflow management and visual analytics for data-intensive scientific research, including the development of the Fourier contour analysis algorithm and Sunfall."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.er.doe.gov/Accomplishments_Awards/PECASE/PECASE.htm |title=Obama Administration Honors DOE Scientists and Engineers with Presidential Early Career Award |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716120450/http://www.er.doe.gov/Accomplishments_Awards/PECASE/PECASE.htm |archive-date=July 16, 2009 |work=[[Department of Energy]] |date=July 9, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Aerobatic career===
Aragon first won a slot on the United States Aerobatic Team in 1991. She holds the record for shortest time from first solo in an airplane to membership on the US Team (less than six years),<ref>{{cite news |first=Stacey |last=Wells |title=Worldwide competition leaves flier soaring |work=Vacaville Reporter |date=August 13, 1992  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |work=KPIX-TV |title=Evening Magazine |date=March 10, 1999 }}</ref>  and was also the first Latina to win a slot on the Team.

A team member from 1991 to 1994, she was a bronze medalist at the 1993 U.S. National Aerobatic Championships and the 1994 World Aerobatic Championships. She has also won over 70 trophies in regional aerobatic competitions at the Unlimited level and was California State Unlimited Aerobatic Champion in 1990.  Aragon has also flown [[airshow]]s (as distinct from [[competition aerobatics|aerobatic competitions]]) professionally since 1990.

Aragon has been a flight instructor since 1987.  In 1989, she founded one of the first aerobatic and tailwheel flight schools in Northern California.<ref>{{cite news |first=Stefanie |last=Mitchell |title=Computer Programmer Gets High on Aerobatics |work=Tri-Valley Herald (Livermore, California) |date=June 23, 1993}}</ref>

Aragon helped develop an "unusual attitude recovery training", whereby  flight students are taught how to recover from emergency situations in flight.<ref>{{cite web|title= Aragon Aviation, Inc. |website=Aragon Aviation, Inc. |url=http://www.dcai.com/flight/#unus |access-date=2020-09-16}}</ref> Between 1987 and 2008, she was a flight instructor at Oakland, Livermore, and [[Tracy Municipal Airport (California)|Tracy Airports]], giving over 2400 hours of flight instruction and over 3000 hours of ground instruction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cecilia R. Aragon, CV |website=faculty.washington.edu |url=https://faculty.washington.edu/aragon/cv.html |access-date=2020-09-16}}</ref>

===Autobiography===
In September 2020, Aragon's memoir, ''Flying Free,'' was published by [[Blackstone Audio|Blackstone Publishing.]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.blackstonepublishing.com/flying-free-cecilia-aragon |title=Flying Free by Cecilia Aragon |website=Blackstone Publishing |access-date=2020-09-16 |isbn=9781982642464 |last1=Aragon |first1=Cecilia |date=September 22, 2020 |publisher=Blackstone }}</ref> Her autobiography was listed in September 2020 Ms. Magazine book list.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://msmagazine.com/2020/09/02/september-2020-reads-for-the-rest-of-us/ |title=September 2020 Reads for the Rest of Us |date=September 2, 2020 |first=Karla |last=Strand |magazine=[[Ms. (magazine)|Ms.]]}}</ref> Her book won the 2021 PNWA Nancy Pearl award.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pnwa.org/page/winners2021 |title=2021 Contest winners |work=Pacific Northwest Writer's Association}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
===Selected scientific papers===
* {{cite conference |title=Randomized Search Trees |first1=Cecilia R. |last1=Aragon |first2=Raimund |last2=Seidel |url=http://faculty.washington.edu/aragon/pubs/rst89.pdf |conference=[[Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science]] |pages=540–545 | year=1989 |doi=10.1109/SFCS.1989.63531 |isbn=0-8186-1982-1 |publisher=[[IEEE Computer Society Press]]}}
* {{cite journal |title=Optimization by Simulated Annealing: An Experimental Evaluation; Part I, Graph Partitioning |first1=David S. |last1=Johnson |first2=Cecilia R. |last2=Aragon |first3=Lyle A. |last3=McGeoch |first4=Catherine |last4=Schevon |date=November–December 1989 |journal=[[Operations Research (journal)|Operations Research]] |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=853–992 |doi=10.1287/opre.37.6.865}} 
* {{cite journal |title=Randomized search trees |first1=Raimund |last1=Seidel |author-link1=Raimund Seidel |first2=Cecilia R. |last2=Aragon |journal=[[Algorithmica]] |volume=16 |pages=464–497 |date=October 1996 |issue=4–5 |doi=10.1007/BF01940876|s2cid=9370259 }}
* {{cite journal |title=Energy efficiency and the misuse of programmable thermostats: The effectiveness of crowdsourcing for understanding household behavior |first1=Marco |last1=Pritoni |first2=Alan K |last2=Meier |first3=Cecilia |last3=Aragon |first4=Daniel |last4=Perry |first5=Therese |last5=Peffer |journal=[[Energy Research & Social Science]] |volume=8 |date=July 2015 |pages=190–197 |doi=10.1016/j.erss.2015.06.002|doi-access=free }}

===Non-science non-fiction books===
* {{cite book |first1=Cecilia |last1=Aragon |first2=Katie |last2=Davis |date=August 2019 |title=Writers in the Secret Garden: Fanfiction, Youth, and New Forms of Mentoring |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0262537803 |oclc=1192499682}}
* {{cite book |first1=Cecilia |last1=Aragon |date=September 2020 |title=Flying Free: My Victory over Fear to Become the First Latina Pilot on the US Aerobatic Team |publisher=[[Blackstone Publishing]] |isbn=978-1982642464 |oclc=1137834616}}

===Short stories (fiction)===
* {{cite magazine |title=Lace Round the Sky |date=September 2014 |first=Cecilia |last=Aragon |magazine=[[Cricket (magazine)|Cricket]]}}
* {{cite web |url=https://depts.washington.edu/hdsl/2015/01/13/from-flash-teams-to-flash-fiction/ |title=Green or Not At All |date=January 13, 2015 |first=Cecilia |last=Aragon |publisher=self}}
* {{cite magazine |url=http://www.jerseydevilpress.com/?page_id=%207264 |title=The Banana Festival |first=Cecilia |last=Aragon |date=August 2016 |magazine=Jersey Devil Press |number=81}}
* {{cite book |first=Cecilia |last=Aragon |chapter=Emotional Contagion |title=Lost: Reflections (anthology) |date=February 2017 |publisher=Medusa's Laugh Press |isbn=978-0-9771680-3-3 |editor-first=Æleen |editor-last=Frisch}}

===Newspaper===
* {{cite news |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/guest-essay-how-fan-fiction-teaches-young-people-to-write-and-helps-members-of-underrepresented-groups/ |title=A higher purpose for fan fiction? Yes! It's helping teach young and marginalized people to write, says UW professor |newspaper=[[Seattle Times]] |date=October 5, 2019 |first=Cecilia R. |last=Aragon}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://ceciliaaragonauthor.com/ Official website]
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/programs/2103_daredevi.html "Daredevils of the Sky."] ''NOVA.'' PBS. (Aired February 1, 1994; contains footage and interview with Aragon.)
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/aragon/treaps.html Treaps info] including links to source code and original papers
* {{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jwoapqlj64  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/1Jwoapqlj64 |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Cecilia Aragon: US Aerobatics Team - Aerospace Education Live (video) |date=December 17, 2020 |work=Aerospace Education Live |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
* {{DBLP|name=Cecilia R. Aragon}}

{{Aerobatics}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aragon, Cecilia R.}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Aerobatic pilots]]
[[Category:California Institute of Technology alumni]]
[[Category:People from West Lafayette, Indiana]]
[[Category:American women computer scientists]]
[[Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni]]
[[Category:University of Washington faculty]]
[[Category:American aviation record holders]]
[[Category:American flight instructors]]
[[Category:American women flight instructors]]
[[Category:American women aviation record holders]]
[[Category:21st-century American women scientists]]
[[Category:American computer scientists]]
[[Category:21st-century American scientists]]
[[Category:American women academics]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers]]