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Tommi Jaakkola is the Thomas Siebel Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received his MSc in theoretical physics from Helsinki University of Technology in 1992 and his PhD from MIT in computational neuroscience in 1997. After completing a postdoctoral position in computational molecular biology as a DOE/Sloan fellow at UCSC, he joined the MIT EECS faculty in 1998. His research advances how machines can learn, predict or control, and do so at scale in an efficient, principled, and interpretable manner. His work in machine learning extends from foundational theory to modern applications, focusing especially on statistical inference and estimation tasks that lie at the heart of complex learning problems. He designs new methods, theory and algorithms to automate the use and generation of semi-structured data such as natural language text, images, molecules, or strategies. Jaakkola applies and develops algorithms to solve multi-faceted recommender, retrieval, or inferential tasks (particularly in biomedical contexts), design and optimize molecules or reactions for drug design, and model strategic, game theoretic interactions. His recent work heavily focuses on diffusion models, protein structure prediction, molecular design, and generative AI, with significant publications in top conferences including ICML, NeurIPS, and ICLR. His scientific contributions span multiple disciplines with significant impact in both theoretical machine learning and practical applications in computational biology and chemistry, including notable work on antibiotic discovery published in Cell. Current advisees: Julia Balla, Bowen Jing, Hannes Stärk, Peter Holderrieth, Chenyu Wang Recent graduates: Gabriele Corso (Boltz PBC), Ezra Erives (DE Shaw), Jason Yim (Xaira) Jaakkola maintains an active research program through MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), with his office located in the Stata Center (32-G470). His work bridges theoretical machine learning with practical applications, making significant contributions to both the academic field and potential real-world impact in healthcare and drug discovery.

• Machine Learning
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computational Biology
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Ruth Mostern is Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh and Director of the Institute for Spatial History Innovation (ISHI). She is Vice-President and President-Elect (2025-2026) of the World History Association and leads the award-winning World Historical Gazetteer project. Education Ph.D. in History, University of California, Berkeley, 2003 Research Interests Mostern is an interdisciplinary historian specializing in world, Chinese, environmental, and spatial history. She investigates long-term human–environment interactions at continental and millennial scales, focusing on how societies organize space, resources, and risk. Her work integrates GIS, digital gazetteers, and environmental science to reconstruct historical geographies of empire, water management, and ecological change. Current projects include: Place: A Global History – a study of itineraries, gazetteers, and databases as technologies of spatial knowledge. The Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Global Medieval Era – cultural adaptations to climate change c. 950-1250 CE. Research Trends Her recent publications span digital environmental humanities, historical GIS, Song-dynasty political economy, and pre-industrial Asian political ecology. A dominant theme is the coupling of state power with environmental transformation, exemplified by her 2021 book The Yellow River: A Natural and Unnatural History (Yale), winner of the 2023 Joseph Levenson Prize. Awards & Honors Joseph Levenson Prize, Association for Asian Studies, 2023 NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant, 2023-2025 Digital Humanities Awards 2021 – Best DH Tool (World Historical Gazetteer) Fudan University Fellowship for Studies of Chinese Civilization, 2019 NEH Humanities Connections Implementation Grant, 2018-2020 Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Summer Institute Grant, 2015-2016 NSF Collaborative Research Grant, 2013-2015 ACLS Digital Innovation Fellowship, 2011-2012 Advising & Grants Mostern welcomes graduate students interested in environmental, global, Asian, or digital history. She has directed multiple externally funded projects, including the NSF-funded Center for Historical Information and Analysis and NEH-supported initiatives on water in Central Asia and global historical gazetteers. Labs & Teams She directs the Institute for Spatial History Innovation (ISHI) at the University of Pittsburgh, a hub for interdisciplinary research integrating spatial technologies with historical inquiry. ISHI hosts the World Historical Gazetteer , providing open tools and datasets that link knowledge about historical places across world regions.

• World History
• Chinese History
• Spatial History
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Asma Sayeed is an Associate Professor and Program Director of Islamic Studies at UCLA's Near Eastern Languages and Cultures department, part of the UCLA College. She holds a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University (2005) and previously served as an Assistant Professor at Lafayette College. Her research focuses on early Muslim social history, Muslim education, gender studies, and hadith transmission by women. She has authored Women and the Transmission of Religious Knowledge in Islam (2013) and contributed to numerous journals and encyclopedias. Sayeed received a Fulbright Fellowship (2010) for archival research on Muslim women’s education in Syria. She teaches courses such as 'Introduction to Islam' and graduate seminars on research methodologies. Her current work examines textual practices in Muslim education across historical contexts. Education: PhD, Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University (2005) MA, History, Binghamton University (1994) BA, Politics, Princeton University (1991) Certificate in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University (1991) Research Interests: Her scholarship emphasizes women’s roles in religious knowledge transmission, legal and social history intersections, and medieval Muslim educational systems. She frequently addresses how gender shaped access to religious authority and spaces. Awards: Fulbright Fellowship (2010) Teaching and Professional Engagement: Sayeed’s courses cover Quranic studies, Islam in the West, and methodological frameworks in Islamic studies. She actively participates in academic conferences and initiatives, including keynote lectures on women’s intellectual engagement in classical Islam and digital humanities projects mapping women’s educational histories.

• Early Muslim Social History
• History of Muslim Education
• Law and Social History
• +3 more

Roland Greene is the Mark Pigott KBE Professor and Anthony P. Meier Family Professor of the Humanities at Stanford University, holding dual appointments in the Department of English and the Department of Comparative Literature. He serves as Director of the Stanford Humanities Center and co-chair of the Renaissances and Poetics Workshop research groups. Educated at Brown University (A.B., 1979) and Princeton University (Ph.D., 1985), his academic career includes prior roles at Harvard and Oregon universities. His research focuses on Renaissance literatures of England, Latin Europe, and the transatlantic world, with expertise in poetry and poetics from the Renaissance to the present. Major works include Five Words: Critical Semantics in the Age of Shakespeare and Cervantes (2013) and editing the Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (2012). Recent lectures address topics like Juan Caramuel’s Metametrica , Baroque aesthetics, and digital humanities challenges. Greene has advised over 50 Ph.D. students, many of whom hold academic positions globally. Awards include American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership and leadership roles like MLA President (2015–2016). His work engages with interdisciplinary themes such as colonial baroque, digital humanities, and global literary history.

• Poetry and Poetics
• Renaissance/Early Modern Literature
• Transatlantic Studies
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Andrew Ollett is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago , where he has taught since 2019. His research focuses on the literary and intellectual traditions of South and Southeast Asia, particularly through works in Sanskrit, Prakrit, Apabhramsha, and Kannada from the first millennium CE. Co-founder and editor of NESAR (New Explorations in South Asia Research) Director of NEH-funded edition/translation of the Kavirājamārga (earliest Kannada literary manual) Expert in Prakrit and Kannada literary traditions His work explores the 'question of language'—examining how language choice shaped cultural production and change in premodern India. Current projects include a monograph on context-sensitivity in Indian language theories and a study of manuscript technology's impact on early South Asian knowledge communities. He has authored The Mirror of Ornaments (Naples: Unior Press, 2025) and Language of the Snakes (UC Press, 2017), and co-authored Lilavai (Harvard, 2021). Recent publications include interdisciplinary studies on: Sanskrit-Prakrit campū genre reevaluation Pragmatics in Mīmāṁsā interpretive concepts Manuscript literacy's influence on literary forms Historical linguistics of Middle Indic syllable reduction Philosophy of language in Śālikanātha and Kumārila Bhaṭṭa Awarded the NEH 'Scholarly Editions and Translations' grant , he teaches classical South Asian literature courses covering Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Tamil traditions. He maintains digital resources including a Prakrit Digital Texts Project and Mīmāṁsādigdarśinī digital text repository, and actively contributes to open-access scholarship.

• Poetics
• History of Literature
• Intellectual History
• +9 more

Valerie Hansen is the Stanley Woodward Professor of History at Yale University's Department of History. She specializes in Chinese history to 1600, the Silk Road, and global medieval connectivity. Her research bridges legal, religious, and economic dimensions of pre-modern societies. Hansen’s work includes groundbreaking books such as The Year 1000 (2020), redefining globalization’s origins, and The Silk Road: A New History (2012), integrating archaeological and textual sources. She led the Luce Foundation-funded Silk Road Project (1995–1998), unifying Turfan artifacts. Her articles span legal pluralism in Silk Road cities, Liao dynasty material culture, and Viking exploration’s global impacts. Awards include American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellowship (2021) and Collège de France lectureship (2019). Hansen collaborates internationally, editing volumes on textiles as money and Song-Yuan studies. Her research emphasizes interdisciplinary methods, blending history with archaeology and art.

• Chinese History to 1600
• Global Medieval History
• History of the Silk Road
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Adam Sabra is a Professor and King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University (1998). His research focuses on pre-modern Middle Eastern history, particularly Egypt, with emphasis on medieval and early modern periods. Key areas include social/cultural history of Cairo, poverty/charity systems, legal history, and Islamic mysticism. Education: Ph.D. in History, Princeton University, 1998 Research Interests: Medieval Egyptian urban society and economy Sufi orders and spiritual lineages Legal and charitable institutions under Mamluk and Ottoman rule Families and social mobility in early modern Egypt Recent Scholarship Trends: Recent work examines aristocratic families in Ottoman Egypt (1500–1800) and integrates hagiography into social history analysis. His publications span topics like waqf systems, artisan-scholar networks, and gender dynamics in Sufi literature. Scientific Awards & Activities: Cleveland Bayard Dodge Distinguished Visiting Professorship at AUC (2014–15) Member, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2012–13) National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow Advising & Grants: Advises graduate students Nicholas Liu and Ibrahim Mansour. His research has been supported by fellowships from NEH and the American Research Center in Egypt. Labs/Teams: Collaborates with scholars in Islamic studies through edited volumes and international research networks.

• Medieval Middle Eastern History
• Islamic Mysticism (Sufism)
• Legal History
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Professor Edward S. Cooke, Jr. holds the Charles F. Montgomery Professorship in the Department of the History of Art at Yale University. He specializes in American material culture, decorative arts, and global craft histories. His research examines artisanal knowledge, transnational object circulation, and the social contexts of craftsmanship in colonial and modern periods. Education: B.A. Yale University (1977), M.A. Winterthur Program in Early American Culture (1979), Ph.D. Boston University (1983). Research interests span colonial craft economies, modern studio furniture movements, and the interconnected histories of global material culture. His recent work emphasizes 'connected art history,' exploring how objects mediate cultural exchange across time and space. Key exhibitions curated include Inspiring Reform: Boston’s Arts and Crafts Movement (1997) and Paul Evans: Crafting Modernism (2014). His books chart new methodologies in studying functional objects' social and aesthetic lives. Received major awards for scholarship and teaching, including the College Art Association’s Distinguished Teacher Award (2018). Directs the Yale Center for the Study of American Art and Material Culture, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue on material culture studies.

• American Material Culture
• Decorative Arts
• Craft History
• +3 more

Projit Bihari Mukharji is an Associate Professor of History and Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Arts & Sciences. His research focuses on postcolonial technoscience, colonial medicine, and the intersections of race, genetics, and indigenous medical traditions. He holds a PhD from the School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and advanced degrees from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Presidency College, Calcutta. Dr. Mukharji's work bridges the histories of science, medicine, and colonialism, with a particular emphasis on South Asia. His books include Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Sciences (2016) and Brown Skins, White Coats: Race Science in India, 1920-66 (2022). His research explores topics like the modernization of Ayurveda, race science in colonial contexts, and the entanglements of science with marginalized knowledges. He teaches courses on comparative medicine, forensic science, and the history of chemistry in colonial Bengal. His recent projects investigate the history of race science in 20th-century India and the interplay between science and the supernatural. He is affiliated with the Departments of Religious Studies and South Asian Studies at UPenn.

• Postcolonial Technoscience
• Colonial Medicine
• Indigenous Medical Traditions
• +7 more

Christopher G. Brinton is the Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, where he leads the ION research lab. He is affiliated with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering at Purdue University's West Lafayette campus. Dr. Brinton received his PhD from Princeton University, where he was previously the Associate Director of the EDGE Lab and a Lecturer of Electrical Engineering. His research focuses on the intersection of networking, communications, and machine learning, with particular emphasis on Fog computing systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), NextG Wireless, and social learning networks. His research integrates foundational techniques including convex and non-convex optimization, machine learning, and signal processing to address challenges in networked intelligent systems. The ION lab under his leadership develops both theoretical frameworks and practical implementations for next-generation networking solutions, with strong industry collaborations including Qualcomm, Nokia, Intel, Cisco, Dell, and Ericsson. Recent publications reveal a strong trend toward federated learning, decentralized algorithms, and edge intelligence, with significant contributions to model partitioning, communication-efficient learning, and robust network architectures. His work increasingly bridges traditional communication theory with modern machine learning techniques to solve emerging challenges in distributed networked systems. NSF CAREER Award ONR Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award DARPA Young Faculty Award (YFA) AFOSR Young Investigator Program (YIP) Award Intel Rising Star Faculty Award (RSA) Dr. Brinton teaches several courses including ECE 647: Performance Modeling of Computer Communication Networks, ECE 301: Signals and Systems, and ECE 547: Introduction to Computer Communication Networks. He has co-authored the book 'The Power of Networks: Six Principles That Connect Our Lives' and taught three Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) with over 400,000 cumulative students. While not currently actively recruiting students, he remains open to connecting with highly motivated individuals. Dr. Brinton leads the ION (Intelligent Optimization and Networking) research lab, which focuses on creating theoretical foundations and practical implementations for next-generation networked systems. The lab has recently published significant work on 6G taxonomy in collaboration with major industry partners and continues to push boundaries in distributed learning and network optimization.

• Networking
• Communications
• Machine Learning
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Patricia Sieber is a Professor of Chinese Literature in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at The Ohio State University. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Chinese literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on print culture, performance culture, and transcultural studies, with emphasis on traditional Chinese drama's global afterlives. She directs the Translation and Interpreting Program and leads the Chinese Theater Collaborative project funded by OSU's Arts and Humanities Grant. Notable works include Theaters of Desire (2003) and editorial work on How To Read Chinese Drama (2022). Awards include the 2023 Ratner Teaching Award. She has held fellowships at the Library of Congress, Princeton Library, and Taipei's National Central Library. Active in scholarly societies, she serves on editorial boards for journals like Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture . Her teaching spans traditional Chinese literature, translation theory, and interdisciplinary courses. She pioneered experiential learning initiatives including a drama translation residency with Amy Ng. Her research has been supported by NEH, ACLS, Chiang Ching-Kuo Foundation, and DAAD grants. Public outreach includes collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company and media appearances (BBC, New York Times).

• Chinese Literature
• Print Culture
• Transcultural Studies
• +3 more

Dana Sajdi is an Associate Professor of History at Boston College, affiliated with the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences. She holds a B.A. from the American University in Cairo and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Her research focuses on premodern social and cultural history of the Arabic-speaking Eastern Mediterranean, with a current project, In Defense of Damascus , exploring the city’s history through local descriptions from the 12th to 20th centuries. She pioneered the Podcasting the Ottomans course, establishing a History Department Pod Studio, enabling undergraduates to produce scholarly podcasts. This initiative has been featured on the Ottoman History Podcast. Her work bridges academia and public engagement, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to history. Key publications include analyses of Syrian sacred landscapes (2022), responses to historical theory (2021), and studies on Ottoman Levant literacy and urban life (2020). Her scholarship integrates textual analysis, spatial history, and cultural critique, reflecting her commitment to innovative historical methodologies.

• Islamic history
• Arabic and Ottoman historiography
• urban history
• +4 more

Dalpat Rajpurohit is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin's College of Liberal Arts, specializing in Hindi language and literature within the College's Asian Studies department. Holding a PhD from Presidency University, Kolkata, he teaches courses exploring South Asian history, religions, and literary traditions through Sanskrit and Hindi texts. Education: PhD in Hindi Literature, Presidency University Affiliations: University of Texas at Austin, Asian Studies, College of Liberal Arts Research: Focuses on pre-modern Hindi/Braj literary intersections with Bhakti, Vedanta, Riti, and colonial language shifts His work challenges simplistic binaries in Hindi literary historiography, demonstrating how early modern Indian poet-saints like Sundardas blended devotional and courtly traditions under Mughal-Rajput multiculturalism. He analyzes how Dādūpanthi saints navigated Jain merchant networks and Mughal imperial policies like sulḥ-i kull while advancing non-dualist Vedanta in Braj poetry. Rajpurohit's research has been recognized with the 30th Devishankar Awasthi Samman and Amar Ujala Best Book Award (2023) . He supervises graduate students in pre-modern Hindi archives, early modern literary networks, and topics like caste, gender, and multilingualism in South Asian literature.

• Hindi Language
• Literary Cultures of Early Modern India
• Religious Cultures of Early Modern India
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Rachel Midura is an Assistant Professor of Digital and Early Modern European History in the Department of History at Virginia Tech's College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Her research focuses on the intersection of digital methodologies and early modern European history, particularly examining how communication networks shaped political power and intelligence gathering during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Education: PhD in History from Stanford University (2014-2020) Rachel Midura specializes in digital history approaches to early modern Europe, with particular expertise in the history of information systems. Her work examines how the development of postal networks, print technology, and state intelligence operations created an 'information age' in the early modern period, long before the digital revolution of our own time. She integrates twenty-first century understanding of media and social networks with traditional historical approaches to develop new models for understanding historical communication. Her research often draws on extensive digitization projects to synthesize innovative historical perspectives on how information moved, was controlled, and shaped political power in early modern Europe. Midura's scholarly output demonstrates a consistent focus on the connections between physical travel routes, communication networks, and intelligence gathering in early modern Europe. Her work bridges traditional historical research with digital humanities methodologies, creating new pathways for understanding how information circulated in pre-modern societies. Through data-driven approaches to historical travel itineraries and postal networks, she reveals how early modern states developed sophisticated surveillance and intelligence systems that anticipated modern practices. Scientific Awards: Early Career Scholarly Impact Award (2025) Honorable Mention: Article Prize for Early Modern and Medieval History (2024) As an educator, Midura has developed innovative courses that integrate digital methodologies with historical content, including specialized offerings on espionage and surveillance in early modern Europe. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes the importance of making historical knowledge accessible through digital curation and annotation. She actively participates in professional development activities focused on inclusive teaching practices and has received funding for curriculum innovation in digital history education. Midura leads the Early Modern Digital Itineraries (EMDigIt) project, which transforms early printed itinerary books to support new data-driven approaches to the history of travel. This NEH-funded initiative represents a significant contribution to digital humanities methodology while advancing our understanding of historical mobility patterns and information networks.

• Digital history
• Early modern Europe
• History of information
• +9 more

Professor Ahmed H. al-Rahim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, affiliated with the College of Arts & Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. from Yale University (2009) and previously served as Senior Research Analyst at the U.S. Department of State's Office of Analysis for Near East and South Asia. His research focuses on medieval Arabic intellectual and philosophical history, with special emphasis on Avicenna's reception, Islamic ethics, and the historiography of Arabic philosophy. He currently directs the Islamic Studies program and the Medieval Studies program at UVa. Education: Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Yale University (2009). Research Interests include: Arabic philosophical historiography, medieval Islamic ethics, Qur'anic exegesis, and the role of biography in intellectual tradition. He leads the Einstein Stiftung Berlin-supported project Betwixt and Between: The Historiography of Medieval Arabic Philosophy , challenging Eurocentric periodizations of Islamic thought. Major Awards: Mellon Humanities Fellowship (2019–2020), Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship (2013), and Einstein Stiftung Berlin Fellowship (2022). His publications span monographs like The Creation of Philosophical Tradition (2018) and articles in New Literary History , Curiositas , and The Cambridge History of World Literature . Teaching: Undergraduate courses on Classical/Modern Islam and graduate seminars on Arabic theology, Qur'anic studies, and medieval literary biography. Advises on topics combining philosophy, ethics, and imperial culture.

• Medieval Arabic and Islamic Intellectual History
• History of Arabic Philosophy
• Avicenna's Philosophical Reception
• +5 more