Siebel School Stories: Margie Ruffin finds success in the unknown

Margie Ruffin ('25 Ph.D. Computer Science) doesn’t play it safe. A recent graduate of The Grainger College of Engineering, Siebel School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ruffin was selected as the school’s student speaker for the commencement ceremony on Sunday, May 18, 2025. In her speech before the roughly 650 graduating students, along with about 3,000 of their closest friends and family, she proudly proclaimed that it was discomfort that got her, and every one of her classmates, to this point.

Ruffin entered her undergraduate program at Spelman College intent on earning a degree in English. A look at the department’s reading list—along with a suggestion from a CS professor during freshman orientation—led her to try out computer science, despite her lack of knowledge on the subject.

“I had to get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Ruffins said before the crowd at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s State Farm Center.

“Standing here as one of the first African American women to earn a PhD in computer science from the University of Illinois reminds me that our story continues.” 

— Dr. Margie Ruffin
('25 Ph.D. Computer Science) 

Her accomplishments are a testimony to that declaration. And she's only getting started.

"Standing here as one of the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Illinois reminds me that our story continues," Ruffin said.

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Ruffin earned her bachelor's degree in computer science from Spelman in 2020. A month later, she began her PhD studies at the University of Illinois.

"I am so thrilled that Margie was able to serve as the student speaker for the Siebel School's first commencement ceremony," Nancy Amato, Abel Bliss professor and Siebel School of Computing and Data Science director, said. "She exemplifies the values and excellence that underpin the enduring leadership of computing at Illinois. I am certain she'll continue to deliver on that promise in the future. I'm excited to collaborate with her as she embarks on her faculty career."

Her research at Illinois encompasses a range of contemporary topics, including the culling and analysis of data from popular document-sharing sites frequented by college students for academic cheating, deepfake detection, the influence of deepfakes on disinformation campaigns, vault application analysis, and the detection and explanation of image manipulation.

She is also the recipient of several prestigious fellowships and awards, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, the Alfred P. Sloan Scholar, the Grainger College Surge Fellowship, and the Illinois Graduate College Fellowship. She is a member of the Learning Electronics, AI, and Programming (LEAP) alliance, as well as the Blacks, Indigenous, Latinx, and Underrepresented in Tech (B[U]ILT). She is a Connected Spaces STEM engagement instructor. She was also in the inaugural cohort for the Grainger College diversity ambassadors for two years.

Photo Credit: Margie Ruffin

Ruffin is a CS graduate student ambassador, membership chair for the Black Graduate Student Association, and a member of the board of trustees for AnitaB.org.

Last summer, she even commissioned a free, downloadable coloring book to introduce children to computer science materials.

Upon graduation, Ruffin will return to her alma mater, Spelman College, as a faculty member.

If Ruffin’s extensive body of work and achievements during her time at Illinois are any indication, she has no plans for slowing down or getting comfortable.

“Growth can be scary,” Ruffin said of her own journey into learning and mastering something new. As she looked out at a sea of hopeful faces under mortarboards, each with their own story of achievement through discomfort, she added, “Growth leads to success.”

Grainger Engineering Affiliations

Nancy Amato is an Illinois Grainger Engineering professor of computer science and is director of the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science. Nancy Amato holds the Abel Bliss professorship appointment.