In Memory of Barbora Buhnova
By Letizia Jaccheri, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Barbora (Bara) Buhnova, Associate Professor and Vice-Dean at Masaryk University, Brno, and Vice-Chair of the European Network for Gender Balance in Informatics (EUGAIN) passed away on 5th December 2024. Bara was a highly respected member of the Informatics community who served with distinction and passion over many years. She was a co-founder of Czechitas, a non-profit organization aimed at making IT skills more accessible to youth and women, impacting over 30,000 people.
Bara was a visionary leader who combined strength with empathy, with strong dedication to gender equity in computer science. She was involved in multiple initiatives, including the Informatics Europe working group Women in Informatics Research and Education (WIRE). In September 2021, she served as the General Chair of the 8th ACM Celebration of Women in Computing (womENcourage 2021), uniting women from interdisciplinary communities.
Bara’s academic career was marked by her commitment to inclusiveness and support for underrepresented communities. She was actively involved in organizing and participating in numerous events and workshops, such as the WIRE 2020 workshop, the EUGAIN webinar celebrating International Women’s Day, and the ICSE conference. Her research on gender balance in informatics resulted in several publications, including articles in IEEE Software and Education and Information Technologies.
Bara’s life and career touched an incredible number of people. Here are some memories that her colleagues shared:
“Dear Bara, you are one of my mentors in EUGAIN, and we used to meet every two weeks. I will always cherish those moments, especially the times when you would take me to the park. You have a remarkable ability to make me pause and appreciate the sunshine, the breeze, and the world around us. Even your promise to yourself to do this at every opportunity was very instructive for me. Your energy, your unique perspective on life — it was always so enlightening. Your presence taught me not just professional lessons, but also how to look at life differently. You have this gift of making ordinary things extraordinary, of turning fleeting moments into lifelong memories.Now, you are no longer with us. Your loss is an immeasurable void, especially for those who loved you. But the lessons you taught, the perspectives you shared — they remain etched in my heart and mind. For those of us who were fortunate to know you, it is now our responsibility to carry forward your legacy. It is our responsibility to live with the kind of curiosity and wonder you inspired, to embrace life with the same openness you taught us, and to continue your mission of creating a more equitable world. You will be deeply missed.” — Özge MISIRLI
“Dear Bara, The first time I met you, I was amazed by your positivity and energy. We worked together for four years on the EUGAIN project, and you did an incredible job hosting the 8th womENcourage in 2021, even during the challenging times of the pandemic. Your kindness, wisdom, and passion for supporting women in computer science, starting from the earliest ages, will continue to inspire us and future generations. Although your physical presence is no longer with us, you will keep inspiring us and the young girls through the memories you’ve left behind. Rest in peace, dear Bara. You will be deeply missed.” — Rukiye Altin
“I met for the first time Bara at the Informatics Europe annual conference ECSS in Madrid in 2021, 3 years ago. After the lockdown due to the pandemic we were having again the conference in presence. The EUGAIN Cost Action had its annual workshop within the ECSS program. I was then the president of Informatics Europe and I chatted with Bara, trying to understand whether she would be interested to expand her contribution to the association by being involved in the Board of Directors. I was highly positively impressed by her. She was determined, clever and smiling. She could have been a good addition to our board, however she said for the time being she was focusing on her work in her country and in EUGAIN. I’ll always remember her with her smile and intelligence.” — Enrico Nardelli
“ You would always feel safe and sound when Bara was around, as she seemed to be immune from anxiety and that was somehow contagious. You could always count on Bara! A true problem solver! I cannot remember or count how many Zoom rooms she created and opened for us even when she was not able to join the chat. Bara was an exceptional person, highly esteemed academic and an amazing colleague! Assertive and caring at the same time, encouraging but also critical and concrete in her judgement, supportive and collaborative, advertising the great work she was doing and giving credit to all the wonderful people behind it.
Sharing and collaborating are words — verbs — that often recur in her presentations and conversations as Bara put her time and energies in the pursue of gender balance, where the journey was as important as the destination. Bara pushed us to be brave and daring, encouraged us to be our better version, a Bara version of us. More positive and able to see the beauty all around us. My wish is that we could all keep a bit of Bara inside us and she will always with around to sooth our anxieties and make us do bigger things! ”— Monica Landoni
Bara’s CV shows strong academic engagement and achievements. She was a Steering Committee member (and past chair) of the International Conference on Software Architecture (ICSA) and has been involved in organization of numerous leading conferences (e.g. in OC of ICSE, ESEC-FSE, ASE). She acted as a reviewer and guest editor of multiple journals (e.g. IEEE TSE, Springer EMSE, Elsevier SCP, Elsevier JSS, Springer SoSyM, Wiley SME), and was member of the IEEE TSE Review Board.
Her most recent roles were Diversity and inclusion Co-Chair at FSE’25, NIER Track Co-Chair at ICSE’25, and Journal-First Track Co-Chair at ICSA.
Bara’s legacy will continue to guide and inspire the community she so passionately served. She will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege to work with her and be touched by her kindness, wisdom, and unwavering commitment to gender equity in computer science.
By Letizia Jaccheri, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
Disclaimer: The posts in the SIGSOFT Blog are written by individual contributors and any views or opinions represented in their posts are personal, belong solely to the blog authors, and do not necessarily represent those of ACM SIGSOFT or ACM.
