Eli Upfal

Eli Upfal is the Rush C. Hawkins Professor of Computer Science at Brown University, where he has been a faculty member since 1998 and served as department chair from 2002 to 2007. Prior to Brown, he held positions as a researcher and project manager at IBM Almaden Research Center and a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He earned his undergraduate degree in mathematics and statistics and a doctorate in computer science from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.

• Education: B.Sc./M.Sc. in Mathematics & Statistics, Ph.D. in Computer Science
• Previous Institutions: IBM Almaden Research Center, Weizmann Institute

Upfal's research focuses on the design and analysis of algorithms, particularly randomized algorithms and probabilistic analysis. His work spans combinatorial and stochastic optimization, routing and communication networks, computational biology, and computational finance. He has also contributed to applying Rademacher Averages and VC-dimension to sampling-based algorithms for graph analysis and pattern mining.

Recent publications emphasize algorithmic applications in graph theory, machine learning, and handling distribution drift in data analysis. His work includes practical implementations of theoretical concepts, such as Abra for betweenness centrality approximation and frameworks for secure data exploration like VizCertify and VizRec.

• Scientific Awards
  • IEEE Fellow
  • ACM Fellow
  • IBM Outstanding Innovation Award
  • IBM Research Division Award

Upfal has advised PhD student Matteo Riondato and received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Office of Naval Research (ONR), and National Institute of Health (NIH). He co-authored the textbook Probability and Computing: Randomized Algorithms and Probabilistic Analysis with M. Mitzenmacher.