Elena Leah Glassman

Elena Leah Glassman is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. She leads the Variation Lab, focusing on AI-resilient interfaces that enhance human collaboration with AI systems. Her work bridges Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), emphasizing cognitive science principles to improve usability and safety in open-ended tasks like text/code writing and sensemaking.

Education: B.S., M.Eng., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley. Recognized as a 2023 Sloan Research Fellow and National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow.

Research interests include AI-assisted creativity tools, ethical AI interfaces, program synthesis visualization, and accessible text systems. Notable projects include CorpusStudio, ChainForge, and DynaVis. Recent awards include CHI 2024 Best Paper and multiple Honorable Mentions at top HCI venues.

Teaches CS 178/179 on interactive system design, emphasizing needfinding, creativity, and usability. Advises a lab of PhD students and postdocs working on HCI-AI intersections. Active in conference communities (CHI, UIST) and open-source tool development.

Labs/Teams: The Variation Lab focuses on augmenting human intelligence through interface design. Collaborates with industry and academic partners on projects like accessible text tools and AI evaluation frameworks.