Keynote Presentations

SIGGRAPH 2023 Keynote Presentations are where industry experts discuss some of the most prominent topics of computer graphics’ past, present, and future. Get to know the Keynote Speakers and Sponsored Featured Speakers below, and register now for SIGGRAPH 2023, taking place 6–10 August in Los Angeles along with Virtual Access options.

You may register here:https://s2023.siggraph.org/register/

Computer Programming Pioneers Revealed

After the end of World War II, the race for technological supremacy sped on. Top-secret research into ballistics and computing — begun during the war to aid soldiers on the front lines — continued across the U.S. as engineers and programmers rushed to complete their covert assignments. Among them were six women tasked with programming the world’s first general-purpose, programmable, all-electronic computer, ENIAC. The work of Kay McNulty, Betty Snyder, Jean Jennings, Ruth Lichterman, Francis Bilas, and Marlyn Wescoff, untold for 70 years, is one of innovation and determination. Yet for 60 years, their story was untold — a mystery that started with old black-and-white pictures of ENIAC.

Author, Lawyer, and Professor Kathryn Kleiman embarks on a journey through history to tell the stories of the programming pioneers you may not know existed who led our charge into the era of computing. “We live in a computing world that grew from the minds and hearts of these remarkable programming pioneers,” Kleiman says. “For the 50th SIGGRAPH conference, I will share incredible stories of innovation from women very much like us.”

Kathryn (Kathy) A. Kleiman is an author, lawyer, professor, and storyteller. Her passion for discovering the truth about the women programming pioneers of ENIAC led her to founding the ENIAC Programmers Project, producing the award-winning documentary “The Computers,” and authoring the book “Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer,” published in July 2022. These accomplishments speak to Kleiman’s passion of inspiring young women and men to pursue careers in computing.

Kleiman, a recognized leader in Internet policy and governance, is a senior fellow with the Tech, Law & Security Program and the Program for Information Justice and Intellectual Property at the American University (AU) Washington College of Law. She is part of the group that founded the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and a co-founder of its Noncommercial Users Constituency. She received her bachelor’s degree at Harvard University and her J.D. at Boston University School of Law.