Biography and education
Vicki Almstrum was born in Nebraska and grew up there and in Arizona. She earned two post-secondary degrees from Arizona State University (B.A. Math Education and M.A. Mathematics), then worked in industry for 8 years (Motorola in the Phoenix area then Philips Electronics in Järfälla, Sweden). After living in Sweden for four years, she moved back to the United States and earned two degrees at the University of Texas at Austin (M.S. in CS and Ph.D. in CS education). Since graduating, she has been on the faculty for two departments at The University of Texas at Austin (Computer Sciences and Electrical Engineering), the Department of Computer Systems at Uppsala University in Sweden, the Game Developer degree program for DeVry University in Austin, TX, and Strayer University in Austin, TX. Her professional interests include research into how people learn and teach topics in computing, methods for capturing the history of the computing field, and actions needed to attract and retain underrepresented groups in STEM areas.
Teaching Interests
Research Interests
Featured grants
- Almstrum, Vicki Lynn. ACM SIGCSE Special Project Grant — Computing Educators Oral History Project (CEOHP) Growth: Awardee Interviews and Website Update, $5000. (Funded: May 2017). Grant.
- Almstrum, Vicki Lynn. The University of Texas at Austin UTOPIA Project, S2S UTOPIA Project, $10000. (Funded: 2004). Grant.
- Almstrum, Vicki Lynn. Tivoli Center of Excellence Grant, $10000. (Funded: 2001). Grant.
- Almstrum, Vicki Lynn. Tivoli Center of Excellence Grant, $10000. (Funded: 2000). Grant.
- Almstrum, Vicki Lynn. FAST-TEX Grant (UT Austin ACITS Center for Instructional Technologies Multimedia Lab), $1000. (Funded: 2000). Grant.

Featured scholarly/creative works
- Almstrum, V. L., Henderson, P. B., Harvey, V., Heeren, C., Marion, W., Riedesel, C., … Tew, A. E. (2006). Concept Inventories in Computer Science for the Topic Discrete Mathematics Working Group Report. In SIGCSE Bulletin (Vol. 38, pp. 132–145).
- Almstrum, V. L. (2006). Men are from toys: women are from tools.
- Almstrum, V. L., Barker, L. J., Owens, B. B., Adams, E., Aspray, W., Dale, N. B., … Schwartzman, L. (2005). Building a Sense of History: Narratives and Pathways of Women Computing Educators Working Group Report. In Inroads – SIGCSE Bulletin, 37, 173–189.
- Almstrum, V. L. (2005). What attracts women to CS?
- Almstrum, V. L. (2005). Challenges to Computer Science Education Research. In SIGCSE Bulletin inroads (Vol. 37, p. 191).
Featured awards
- Award / Honor Recipient: Teaching Excellence Award, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin. 1999
- Award / Honor Recipient: Outstanding Service Learning Faculty Award, The University of Texas Volunteer and Service Learning Center and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library. 2006
- Award / Honor Recipient: Provost's Professional Development Award. 2006
- Award / Honor Nominee: Service Award, College of Natural Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin. 1999
- Award / Honor Nominee: Outstanding Teaching Assistant in College of Liberal Arts, Arizona State University. 1980

Featured service activities
- Member
ACM History Committee
- Member
ACM Award Committee for ACM Karl V. Karlstrom Award
- Member
Faculty Classroom Technology Committee
- Chair
Coordinator for CS2315
- Other
SWEA (Swedish Women’s Education Association)
- Board Member
Rosedale Neighborhood Association