Maja Matarić is the Chan Soon-Shiong Chaired and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, with appointments in Neuroscience, and Pediatrics at the University of Southern California (USC), and founding director of the USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center. Her PhD and MS are from MIT, and her BS is from the University of Kansas. She is Fellow of AAAS, IEEE, AAAI, and ACM, recipient of the US Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics & Engineering Mentoring (from President Obama), Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision for Innovation, NSF Career, MIT TR35 Innovation, and IEEE RAS Early Career Awards, and authored the popular textbook “The Robotics Primer” (MIT Press). She leads the USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center and actively mentors and empowers K-12 students, women. and other underrepresented groups toward pursuing STEM careers. Her university leadership experience includes serving as vice president of research (2020-21) and as vice dean of research in engineering (2006-19).  A pioneer of the field of socially assistive robotics, her research is developing human-machine interaction methods for personalized support in convalescence, rehabilitation, training, and education for users across the age and ability spectrum, including autism spectrum disorders, stroke, dementia, anxiety, depression, and ADHD, along with other major health and wellness challenges.  She is also co-founder of Embodied, Inc.