Danielle Albers Szafir

Danielle Albers Szafir is a scholar specializing in information visualization, currently serving as an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and leading the UNC/CU VisuaLab. Her research spans the fields of information visualization, data science, computer graphics, and cognitive science, aiming to optimize visualization design by understanding visual cognition. She has made significant contributions to developing interactive systems and techniques for exploring large-scale complex data in fields like biology and the humanities. Her work has received multiple best paper awards at international conferences and has been integrated into mainstream tools like D3 and Tableau. Additionally, she was featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30: Science list and is a recipient of the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award.

• 2021–Present·University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill·Associate Professor
  • Leading the UNC/CU VisuaLab, focusing on the intersection of information visualization and cognitive science.
• 2015–2021·University of Colorado Boulder·Assistant Professor
  • Developed interactive visualization systems for exploring large-scale complex data and researched the role of visual cognition in visualization design.

• 2011–2015·University of Wisconsin-Madison·Ph.D. (Computer Science)
  • Research Focus: Visual Computing Lab, advised by Professor Michael Gleicher.
• 2009–2011·University of Wisconsin-Madison·M.S. (Computer Science)
  • Participated in the U.S. Department of Energy BACTER research project.
• 2005–2009·University of Washington·B.S. (Computer Science)
  • Recipient of the NASA Space Scholarship.