This talk explores how the programming language community can help make the world a better place from diverse perspectives. As PL researchers, my research group has been leveraging mechanized specifications for JavaScript, WebAssembly, and P4. We aim to take programming languages to a new level of rigor and assurance by type-checking and testing language specifications, detecting conformance bugs between language specifications and their implementations, and generating correct-by-construction tools. As an educational institution, KAIST’s Social Inclusion Committee, influenced by SIGPLAN CARES and the SIGPLAN Long-Term Mentoring Committee, has been leading the way for diversity, equity, and inclusion in Korean universities. Finally, this talk will share lessons learned and gratitude along the way.

Sukyoung Ryu is a Professor in the School of Computing at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She received her BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from KAIST, and worked at Sun Microsystems and Harvard University before joining KAIST. Her primary research interests include programming languages, software engineering, and information security. She received research awards from Google and Sun Microsystems, and Distinguished Paper Awards from ACM SIGSOFT. She has served as Program Committee Chairs and General Chairs in conferences in the Programming Language and Software Engineering communities. She served as an associate editor of IEEE TSE and a member of ACM SIGPLAN EC, and she is currently a co-Chair of ACM SIGPLAN CARES and the Head of the School of Computing, KAIST.