James Landay

James Landay is a Professor of Computer Science and the Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan Professor at Stanford University's School of Engineering. He serves as the Denning Co-Director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI). His expertise spans Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Mobile Computing, and Human-Centered AI. Landay holds a BS from UC Berkeley (1990), and MS/PhD from Carnegie Mellon University (1993/1996). He has held roles at the University of Washington, Cornell Tech, and Intel Labs Seattle. His research focuses on behavior change technologies, user interface design, and cross-cultural interfaces.

Education:

• BS, UC Berkeley, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (1990)
• MS, Carnegie Mellon University, Computer Science (1993)
• PhD, Carnegie Mellon University, Computer Science (1996)

Research Interests: Landay explores how technology can support health and sustainability through behavior change. His work includes tools like WhoIsZuki (narrative-based health apps) and Smart Primer (educational storytelling). He also studies workplace design impacts on well-being and drone-human interaction.

Awards & Recognition:

• ACM Fellow (2016)
• ACM SIGCHI Academy Member (2011)
• ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award

Teaching & Advising: Landay teaches courses like Cross-Platform Mobile App Development (CS147L) and oversees over 20 advisees across doctoral, master’s, and undergraduate programs. His labs include collaborations with Tsinghua University’s World Lab.

Labs & Projects: Leads initiatives such as the Hybrid Physical-Digital Spaces project and the Smart Primer educational tool. His work bridges academia, industry, and policy, with contributions to NSF advisory roles and startups like NetRaker.