She Invented That A digital museum of women in science

Scientist Exhibit

Barbara Liskov

Computer Science

1939 – Present United States

Pioneered data abstraction, the CLU programming language, and principles of behavioral subtyping

Overview Institutions
Barbara Liskov

Overview

About Barbara Liskov

Barbara Liskov is a computer scientist whose research reshaped programming language and software-system design. At MIT she led the development of CLU, an influential language that advanced data abstraction and modular programming. Her later work on distributed systems and behavioral subtyping, including the Liskov Substitution Principle, continues to influence modern software engineering. She received the ACM A.M. Turing Award in 2008.

Scientific Contribution

Key Discovery

Behavioural subtyping

Principles formalized in the Liskov substitution principle for reasoning about subtype correctness.

Data abstraction and the CLU programming language

Pioneering work on data abstraction embodied in the CLU programming language.

Life Timeline

Important Moments

1968

education

Earns a PhD in computer science from Stanford

Liskov became the first woman in the United States to receive a PhD from a computer science department.

1970

discovery

Develops foundational ideas in data abstraction and CLU

During the 1970s, Liskov's work on data abstraction and the CLU programming language demonstrated systematic ways to construct and maintain complex software.

1972

career

Joins the MIT faculty

Liskov joined MIT, where she developed foundational ideas in programming languages and software methodology.

1980

discovery

Develops Argus for distributed programming

During the 1980s, Liskov and her group developed Argus, a high-level language designed to support distributed programs.

2008

award

Receives the A.M. Turing Award

Liskov received the 2008 Turing Award for foundational contributions to programming language and system design, including data abstraction, fault tolerance and distributed computing.

Places & Networks

Institutions