CSC News

Battestilli Named Computer Science’s 2020-2021 “Person of Exceptional Performance”

The NC State Computer Science Department is pleased to present the 2020-2021 “Person of Exceptional Performance” (PEP) Award to Dr. Lina Battestilli, Teaching Associate Professor.

Battestilli completed her undergraduate education at Kettering University where she received her BS in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Applied Mathematics in 1999. She then went on to further her education at NC State where she received her masters in Computer Networking in 2002 and her PhD in Computer Science in 2005. Shortly after receiving her PhD, she was selected by the NC State Graduate School as the winner of the 2006 Nancy G. Pollock Dissertation Award for her outstanding research in computer science, making her one of the first graduate students from computer science to receive this award.

Since she began her career at NC State as a teaching associate professor in 2012, Dr. Battestilli has been involved at NC State in a variety of other roles. A few of her roles include faculty adviser of Women in Computer Science (WICS), member of the Academic Committee of the Grace Hopper Celebration, member of the Diversity in Admissions and Matriculation committee within the CSC Department, panelist on Technology and Bias at Honors and Scholars Village, leader in College of Engineering (COE) high school summer camps, and a 2020 NC State Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA) Faculty Fellow.

This year alone, Battestilli has been recognized several times for her outstanding work as a professor, researcher, and women’s equity advocate. She teaches Intro to Computing, Network electives, and serves as part of the Computer Science Senior Design Center. This year, she is being recognized as the most Awesome Teaching Associate Professor because of her outstanding work performance as a teacher and a researcher. As an impassioned advocate for diversity and women’s equity in technology and computer science, Battestilli was recognized for her activism at the 2021 Sisterhood Dinner as a nominee for the 2021 Equity for Women Award earlier this year.

Battestilli has dedicated much of her efforts to creating and supporting a diverse environment within the Computer Science Department, as well as increasing diversity and participation within the technology and computer science majors. Her passion is seen through her research interests which include: the innovation of Computer Science Education, effective ways of teaching Computer Science to non-majors, and increasing the diversity of Computer Science students. Along with her research, Battestilli is working on a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project “Analysis of a Simple, Low-cost Intervention’s Impact on Retention of Women in Computer Science.” The goal of this project is to improve the retention of women within computer science.

“There is no doubt that we need more women in tech innovation. Companies and teams perform better when there is diversity,” says Battestilli. “Women need to be part of solving the world’s problems and technology is a powerful tool to accomplish just that!”

For her dedication to her teaching and research, and for her passion and commitment to establishing and maintaining a diverse computer science community at NC State, the department is honored to recognize Dr. Lina Battestilli with the "2020-2021 Person of Exceptional Performance" Award.

~bell~