Barbara Liskov is an American computer scientist known for her significant contributions to programming languages and software engineering. She is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was one of the first women to earn a Ph.D. in computer science in the United States. Liskov is best known for the Liskov Substitution Principle, which is a key concept in object-oriented programming. In addition to her theoretical work, Liskov has been involved in the development of several programming languages, including CLU, which introduced important concepts like data abstraction. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the Turing Award in 2008, recognizing her contributions to the field of computer science.