Cleotilde (Coty) Gonzalez was born in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. She grew up in Leon and lived there until 1981 when she moved to Puebla, Mexico to pursue a degree in Computer Science at the Universidad de Las Americas-Puebla (UDLAP).

In 1986, she received a B.Sc. degree in Computer Science from UDLAP. The same year, she started a job as a systems analyst in the computer center of the same university. After a few months she became the leader for the department of analysis and programming, and was promoted to the position of the chief of the department in 1987. Under her leadership, several administrative and financial information systems were developed for the university.

In 1990 she obtained a M.B.A. from UDLAP. During this time she also worked as a systems and administrative consultant for the industry in Puebla and Mexico City. She worked as a consultant for important companies in Mexico such as PEMEX and INFONAVIT.

In 1991, she moved from Puebla, Mexico to Lubbock TX, USA to pursue a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems (MIS). In 1992 she obtained a M.Sc. degree in MIS from Texas Tech University, and in 1996 she received a Ph.D. in MIS from the same university. Her dissertation work involved an empirical investigation of the design of animated interfaces and their effect on decision making performance. Her research involved the areas of Human-Computer Interaction, Human Factors, Psychology, and Computer Graphics.

In 1996 she moved back to Puebla, Mexico. During 1996-1997 she was an Assistant and then Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at UDLAP. She designed new courses for the university such as Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction, and Decision Support Systems, and taught Software Engineering for undergraduate and graduate students.

In 1997 she moved to Pittsburgh, PA. During 1997 - 2000, she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now Tepper School of Business) at Carnegie Mellon University. During this time she continued interacting with students in Mexico and traveling back to Mexico to teach short courses. During her post-doctoral fellowship she conducted research on decision making in real-time environments under an Airforce Office of Scientific Research grant.

In 2000 she became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. She currently holds the position of Associate Research Professor in the SDS department. She taught several courses for the Information Systems program in the Humanities and Social Sciences. She also obtained important research grants from the Army Research Labs and the Office of Naval Research that allowed her to establish the Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory (DDMLab) in 2002.

The DDMLab (http://www.cmu.edu/ddmlab), now consisting of multiple researchers and students, focuses on the study and support of decision making in dynamic environments. Research in the laboratory is currently supported by multiple institutions including the National Science Foundation, the Army Research Labs, Army Research Office, and the Office of Naval Research.

Social and Decision Sciences Department,  Carnegie Mellon University. For updates and comments, please email lczlonka@andrew.cmu.edu