1969
Clarence “Skip” Ellis
Civil Rights and Social Change
Clarence “Skip” Ellis was a pioneering computer scientist and educator whose work shaped the field of collaborative computing. In 1969, Ellis became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in computer science in the United States. He later became the first African American elected as a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Ellis joined the University of Colorado Boulder faculty in 1972, returned in 1992 and retired in 2010. During his tenure, he led research in human-centered computing, directed the Collaboration Technology Research Group, and contributed to the Systems Software Lab and the Institute for Cognitive Science. His work at CU and Xerox PARC advanced computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW), earning him recognition as a founder of the movement for collaborative computing. Ellis believed in using technology to foster positive human interaction and was deeply committed to diversity in computing. His legacy lives on through the Skip Ellis Early Career Award, established by the Computing Research Association to honor underrepresented groups in computing research. In 2021, Microsoft Research launched a distinguished lecture series featuring recipients of this award, celebrating Ellis’s enduring impact on the field.