Julie A. Kientz

Julie A. Kientz is a professor and chair of the Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) Department at the University of Washington. She directs the Computing for Healthy Living & Learning (CHiLL) Lab and holds adjunct appointments in the UW Information School and Computer Science & Engineering. Her research focuses on human-computer interaction, health informatics, ubiquitous computing, and interaction design for children. Through human-centered design, technology development, and qualitative and quantitative methods, she studies how to reduce the burden of interactive technologies in health, education, and family settings. Her work has included mobile, sensor, and social applications for sleep health, child development, family screen time, adolescent stress, and inclusive education for neurodiverse children.S01 S02 S07

She is Co-Principal Investigator and UW lead for the AI Institute for Exceptional Education and UW lead for the CERES Center. Her recognitions include the NSF CAREER Award (2009), MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 (2013), the UW College of Engineering Faculty Research Innovator Award (2014), ACM Distinguished Member recognition, induction into the ACM SIGCHI Academy in 2024, and election to the Washington State Academy of Sciences in 2025.S02 S06 S09

• Current | University of Washington, HCDE | Professor and Department Chair
  • Leads HCDE research, education, and community development; the current title is confirmed by the UW official profile.
• 2008–present·University of Washington·HCDE faculty member
  • Develops and evaluates human-centered computing technologies for health, education, and families. Her 2015 CV records UW appointments beginning in 2008; the current title is taken from the official profile.S01 S02 S05

• 2008·Georgia Institute of Technology·Ph.D. in Computer Science
• 2002·University of Toledo·B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering

• AI Institute for Exceptional Education: Works with a cross-institutional team on human-centered AI technologies for children with speech and language processing challenges and their educators.S07 S08
• CERES Center: UW lead for a research network connecting education-technology researchers to improve children’s learning and development and access to education for children with disabilities.S07 S10
• ACM SIGCHI Academy: inducted in 2024; Washington State Academy of Sciences: elected in 2025.S06 S09

This profile was checked against Julie Kientz’s personal website, UW HCDE pages, the CHiLL Lab, ACM SIGCHI’s announcement, and UW’s 2025 news. Access results and limitations are recorded in _review/133_Julie A. Kientz/reference.md. Verification date: 2026-09-23.