ATLANTA—Georgia State Ph.D. students, Erin Anderson and Deepa Muralidhar, have received the prestigious Kapor Foundation Academic Fellowship.
Funded by The Kapor Foundation — a nonprofit organization that works at the intersection of racial equity and technology — this fellowship program supports individuals across academia and investigative journalism examining the state of the tech ecosystem, identifying disparities in access, opportunities, and experiences across the tech sector. Fellows are selected based on their intellectual rigor and potential research impact.
Erin Anderson, a doctoral candidate in the College of Education and Human Development and director of GSU’s Interactive Teaching and Learning Lab, is conducting research on making mixed-reality simulation learning experiences inclusive and accessible for Deaf and Blind teachers. She is passionate about making educational technology accessible to all.
Deepa Muralidhar, a computer science Ph.D. student and tenure-track faculty member at Perimeter College, is researching mitigating bias in AI systems and increasing transparency in user interfaces. She has a strong background in computer science education, having taught high school students for 17 years and co-founding the GaCSTA chapter.
Muralidhar is part of the Pathways to Attaining the Doctoral Degree (PADD) program, a collaboration between Perimeter College and The Graduate School, which aims to increase the number of Perimeter faculty who successfully complete terminal degrees while remaining in their faculty roles. The program provides a reduced teaching load and summer support to help faculty members focus on their doctoral degree requirements to increase career opportunities and expand career ladders.