McMillan Named Interim Director of UW School of Computing

The academic director in the University of Wyoming’s School Computing has been selected to serve as interim director of the school starting Aug. 21.

Beth McMillan will succeed Gabrielle Allen, who led the 2022 launch of the School of Computing and has guided its development. Allen earlier announced her plans to step down from the position at the conclusion of her contract this summer.

“Dr. McMillan brings a wealth of academic and leadership experience to this role,” says Scott Turpen, UW’s interim provost. “She has played a central role in faculty coordination, curriculum development and student engagement. We’re delighted that she will take the leadership baton from Dr. Allen and continue moving the School of Computing forward.”

After “incubating” for more than three years in the UW’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, the School of Computing will become a stand-alone academic unit before the start of the 2025-26 academic year. There will soon be a national search for a dean to lead the next phase of the school’s development.

“I’m honored to step into this role -- especially as a proud alum of the University of Wyoming,” McMillan says. “The School of Computing’s focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, hands-on learning and multiple pathways to success is what inspired my own journey into this field. I look forward to helping advance our mission of making computing accessible and impactful across campus, throughout the state and beyond.”

McMillan joined the Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center (WyGISC) as director for academic programs in 2022. WyGISC became part of the School of Computing in 2023.

Before joining UW, she was a faculty member at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, where she served as chair of the Department of Earth Sciences and as developer and coordinator of its graduate geospatial technology certificate program. She has taught GIS and remote sensing courses to graduate and undergraduate students for 18 years.

McMillan received her bachelor’s degree in geology from Colorado College, an M.S. in environmental science and engineering from Colorado School of Mines, and a Ph.D. in geology from UW.

The School of Computing serves a university-wide mission, collaborating with multiple colleges. To accelerate the establishment of the school as a hub for computing at UW, it initiated a broad range of engagement programs, strategically designed and managed to build bridges. To date, these programs and other engagement activities have resulted in 174 student impacts and over 160 faculty engagements with 98 unique faculty members in 34 UW departments. The school also has worked to advance computing-related infrastructure available to UW researchers and educators, including broadening the use of the National Center for Atmospheric Research-Wyoming Supercomputing Center.