Kathryn Kinsley, Ph.D., ’79, ’83

Kathryn Kinsley became the first woman and “home grown” recipient of a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Central Florida in 1983.

In 1981, Kathryn co-founded Datawise Inc., a computer consulting company. She and her business partners built their company to specialize in a new platform: microcomputers. Kathryn retired from Datawise at the end of 2017 after 36 successful years.

From the early years to the present day, Kathryn has watched UCF computer science grow from a small department to a full-grown, nationally-recognized program.

She has been named Engineer of the Year by the IEEE Computer Society, Outstanding Computer Scientist by the Association of Women in Computing, Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year by the Women’s Executive Council of Central Florida and has received the UCF Alumni Professional Achievement Award.

Kathryn is past president of the Central Florida Women’s Resource Center, the Adult Literacy League, Florida Executive Women, Association for Women in Computing and the Central Florida High Technology Council. She serves on the UCF College of Arts and Humanities Advisory Committee. During her long-standing history of support for UCF, Kathryn and her husband Joe have awarded more than 23 scholarships to deserving students.