John DeNero

John DeNero is the Giancarlo Teaching Fellow and Associate Teaching Professor in UC Berkeley's Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS) department. He joined UC Berkeley in 2014 to focus on undergraduate education in computer science and data science. He teaches and co-develops introductory courses like CS 61A (Computer Science) and Data 8 (Data Science), which serve thousands of students annually. His research spans natural language processing and education innovation, with notable contributions to textbooks like Composing Programs and Computational and Inferential Thinking.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, UC Berkeley (2010)
• M.A. in Philosophy, Stanford University (2002)
• B.S. in Mathematical & Computational Science and Symbolic Systems, Stanford University (2001)

Research interests focus on advancing AI education and curriculum design. His work emphasizes scalability, equity, and student success in large courses. Notable contributions include the Pac-Man projects for AI education and the Berkeley Data Science Education Program.

Recent trends in publications highlight AI-assisted education tools, machine translation improvements, and large-scale student feedback systems. Awards include the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award (2018) and multiple accolades for teaching excellence.

Advising and grants: While currently not taking new students, his team supports massive course infrastructures. Labs include the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research (BAIR) Lab and contributions to Data Science undergraduate studies.