Cecilia R. Aragon

Cecilia R. Aragon is an American computer scientist, professor and author who is also a champion aerobatic pilot. She first won a place on the United States Aerobatic Team in 1991 and flew as a team member until 1994. She was the first Latina to win a slot on the team and holds the record for the shortest time from a first solo flight to team membership, less than six years. She won a bronze medal at the 1993 U.S. National Aerobatic Championships and another at the 1994 World Aerobatic Championships, was California State Unlimited Aerobatic Champion in 1990, and has won more than 70 trophies in regional Unlimited competitions. She has flown airshows professionally since 1990 and has been a flight instructor since 1987, founding one of the first aerobatic and tailwheel flight schools in Northern California in 1989. Beyond the cockpit she is best known as a co-inventor of the treap data structure and as a professor of human centered design and engineering at the University of Washington. Her 2020 memoir, Flying Free, tells how she became the first Latina pilot on the US Aerobatic Team.