Joel Andreas is a Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins University since 2003, serving as Program Director of the East Asian Studies Program. His research focuses on political contention, social inequality, and social change in contemporary China. He holds a PhD in Sociology from UCLA and teaches social theory, political sociology, and courses on Chinese society. He has held visiting positions at universities including the University of Sydney, Hong Kong University, and Ningxia University. His work examines labor movements, rural land policies, and class dynamics in China. Recent research includes analyses of staff-worker congresses, rural land dispossession, and the persistence of militarism in U.S. policy. He critiques market reforms and explores the legacy of the Cultural Revolution. Andreas has contributed to debates on China’s transition to capitalism and the decline of socialist systems. His publications span topics from urbanization to state coercion in rural development. He maintains an active role in academic exchanges and policy-relevant research on China’s socio-political landscape.
Mark Liberman is a Trustee Professor at the University of Pennsylvania , holding appointments in the Department of Linguistics and Department of Computer and Information Science . He serves as Director of the Linguistic Data Consortium and Faculty Director of Ware College House . His career spans linguistics, speech technology, and computational methods. Education: Harvard University (1965-1969), MIT (M.S. 1972, Ph.D. 1975) Professional Experience: AT&T Bell Laboratories (1975-1990), University of Pennsylvania (1990-present) His research interests include: Corpus-based Phonetics : Analyzing speech patterns via large-scale datasets. Clinical Applications : Developing speech biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. Tonal Phonology : Studying lexical tone and intonation in languages like Yoruba and Mandarin. Formal Annotation Models : Creating frameworks for linguistic data standardization. Recent publications highlight automated speech analysis, cross-linguistic prosody, and digital biomarkers for conditions like ALS-FTD and Alzheimer’s. His collaborations span computational linguistics , neurology , and cognitive science . Scientific awards include the IEEE James L. Flanagan Award (2017), Antonio Zampolli Prize (2010), and fellowships from the AAAS and Linguistic Society of America . He advises PhD students May Chan and Jonathan Him Nok Lee and contributes to editorial boards for journals like Cognition and Annual Review of Linguistics . His work bridges speech science , language technology , and neurocognitive research .
Sasha Su-Ling Welland is Chair & Professor in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies at the University of Washington, with an adjunct role in Anthropology and affiliation in China Studies. She holds a PhD (2006) and MA (1998) in Anthropology from UC Santa Cruz, and a BA (1991) in Ethnic Studies from Stanford University. Her research focuses on transnational visual culture, women of color, ecocriticism, and post-socialist gender dynamics. Current work explores embodied ecologies, nuclear colonialism, and racial capitalism in the Anthropocene. Welland’s scholarship bridges art, ethnography, and public scholarship. Her book Experimental Beijing (2018) won major prizes for its analysis of gender in Chinese contemporary art. Recent research intertwines military/medical histories with environmental justice in St. Louis. She curates feminist art exhibits in Asia and serves on the Journal of Visual Culture editorial board. Her awards include the 2019 Francis L.K. Hsu Book Prize and 2020 Joseph Levenson Prize. She advises graduate students and leads lab teams investigating transnational feminisms and environmental humanities. Resources include her CV and online office hours via the department’s website.
Christopher Rea is a Professor of Modern Chinese Literature in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia's Faculty of Arts. He serves as a faculty member and former Associate Head of the Department of Asian Studies, former Director of the Centre for Chinese Research, an associate of the Hong Kong Studies Initiative, and a Faculty Fellow of St. John's College. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. from Columbia University (2008) and a B.A. from Dartmouth College (1999). Rea's research focuses on the modern Chinese-speaking world, with particular expertise in Chinese literature, cinema, print culture, translation, and the cultural history of humor and deception. His scholarly approach bridges literary analysis, cultural history, and film studies, creating a distinctive interdisciplinary perspective on modern Chinese cultural production. He is particularly known for his work on Republican-era China (1912-1949), exploring how cultural forms evolved during this transformative period. His major publications reveal a trajectory from studies of humor and laughter in modern China ( The Age of Irreverence , 2015) to literary hoaxes and deception ( The Book of Swindles , 2017), Chinese cinema ( Chinese Film Classics , 2021), and research methodology ( Where Research Begins , 2022). His current projects include China on the Make: Stories of Chinese Deception and The Unfinished Comedy , a sequel to The Age of Irreverence . National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship (2024) UBC Dean of Arts Mentorship Award (2024) UBC Killam Research Prize (2022) Joseph Levenson Book Prize (2017) Rea actively supervises graduate students and has developed significant digital resources, including the Chinese Film Classics project (chinesefilmclassics.org) featuring 40+ subtitled Chinese films and 22 video lectures, and a YouTube channel with over 250 videos on Chinese cinema and culture. His teaching extends to free online courses on The Modern Chinese Novel and early Chinese cinema, demonstrating his commitment to making scholarly resources accessible beyond traditional academic boundaries.
Esther Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is affiliated with the Department of Economics within the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. She co-founded and co-directs the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and holds the position of Chaire, Pauvreté et politiques publiques at the Collège de France. Duflo also serves as President of the Paris School of Economics, demonstrating her significant international influence in economic policy and research. Her educational background includes first degrees in history and economics from Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, followed by a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 1999. This strong foundation has enabled her to become one of the most influential economists of her generation. Duflo's research focuses on understanding the economic lives of people living in poverty, with the explicit aim of informing effective social policy design and evaluation. Her work spans critical areas including health, education, financial inclusion, environmental sustainability, and governance. What distinguishes her approach is the rigorous application of randomized controlled trials to evaluate development interventions, bringing scientific precision to poverty alleviation efforts. Her research methodology has revolutionized how economists approach development questions, moving beyond theoretical models to evidence-based policy recommendations. Her scholarly output demonstrates remarkable breadth and impact, with publications spanning from technical academic papers to influential books for general audiences. Duflo's work consistently bridges the gap between academic research and practical policy applications, with recent publications addressing contemporary challenges including climate change adaptation, pandemic response, and economic policy for hard times. Her research trends reveal a deepening commitment to translating complex economic concepts for broader audiences while maintaining scholarly rigor. Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (2019, with Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer) Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (2015) A.SK Social Science Award (2015) Infosys Prize (2014) John Bates Clark Medal (2010) MacArthur 'Genius Grant' Fellowship (2009) Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2017) Duflo has supervised numerous graduate students and collaborated extensively with researchers worldwide through J-PAL, which has grown into a global network conducting field experiments across multiple continents. Her grant portfolio includes substantial funding from major foundations and government agencies supporting large-scale development research. Beyond traditional academic advising, Duflo has mentored a generation of development economists through J-PAL's training programs and field research opportunities. Her primary institutional home is the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), which she co-founded at MIT. J-PAL has grown into a major research center with offices worldwide, connecting academic researchers with policymakers to ensure that program evaluations inform real-world decisions. Duflo also leads research teams at the Collège de France and the Paris School of Economics, creating a transatlantic network focused on evidence-based poverty reduction strategies.
Professor Jo Barraket is a leading academic and researcher in social equity, social innovation, and public policy. As Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute and member of the Dilun Duwa Centre for Indigenous Business Leadership, she focuses on improving social equity through organizational innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and policy design. Her research addresses social procurement, health equity, digital inclusion, and employment pathways for marginalized groups. Her work includes landmark projects such as the Australian Digital Inclusion Index and evaluations of Commonwealth Social Enterprise Development Funds. She has secured over $11M in research grants, including multiple ARC grants, and produced over 75 scholarly publications. Her current projects compare social procurement policies in Australia and Scotland, and study youth unemployment in construction via employment-focused procurement. Key research themes include: social enterprise scaling strategies, cross-sector partnerships for policy implementation, and the role of philanthropy in equitable housing. She advises governments and OECD on inclusive employment policies and chairs major research initiatives like the Social Enterprise Impact Lab. Prof Barraket’s transdisciplinary approach combines rigorous academic research with practical outputs like policy guides and digital tools to maximize societal impact. She previously founded the Centre for Social Impact Swinburne, now a global leader in social economy research.
Andrea Arpaci-Dusseau is the Susan Beth Horwitz WARF Professor of Computer Sciences and Catherine A. Erickson Professor in the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been a professor at UW-Madison since January 2000 and currently serves as Graduate Advising Chair for the Computer Sciences Department. Her research focuses on computer systems with primary emphasis on file and storage systems, but also making significant contributions in distributed systems, virtualization, and scheduling. According to csrankings.org, she has published the fourth-most papers in premier systems conferences (SOSP and OSDI) and the most at the top file and storage conference (FAST). Professor Arpaci-Dusseau's recent publications demonstrate continued leadership in storage systems research, with increasing focus on cloud architectures, persistent memory technologies, and system reliability. Her work bridges theoretical foundations with practical implementations, consistently addressing real-world challenges in modern computing environments. ACM SIGOPS Mark Weiser Award 2018 (highest honor in systems field) UW-Madison Van Hise Outreach Teaching Award 2017 Multiple Best Paper awards at FAST, SOSP, OSDI, and EuroSys conferences Carolyn Rosner Award for Excellence in Teaching (2010, 2017) Co-chaired major conferences including USENIX ATC '04, FAST '07, OSDI'18, and SOSP'24 Professor Arpaci-Dusseau has co-advised 28 Ph.D. students and is deeply committed to educational outreach through the CaTaPuLT project, which connects UW-Madison students with K-12 schools to teach computational thinking using Scratch. This initiative has reached hundreds of students across Madison and earned her significant recognition for teaching excellence. She leads the Arpaci-Dusseau Systems Lab (ADSL) and is involved with the Wisconsin Institute on Software-defined Datacenters in Madison (WISDoM), where her research group continues to advance state-of-the-art solutions in computer systems.
Mark Y. Liberman is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Linguistics and Trustee Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Linguistics and the Department of Computer and Information Science. His roles include Director of the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC), Faculty Director of Ware College House, and former Director of the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science. Education: A.B. in Linguistics and Applied Mathematics from Harvard University (1965–1969), M.S. (1972) and Ph.D. (1975) in Linguistics from MIT. Research focuses on corpus-based phonetics, clinical linguistics applications, tonal phonology, formal models for linguistic annotation, and computational linguistics. He explores speech production, prosody, and interdisciplinary topics like language evolution and neurobiology of speech. Recent articles highlight advancements in speech biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, autism analysis, and computational linguistics. Awards include Fellowships from the AAAS and Linguistic Society of America. He advises graduate students and leads large-scale language resource initiatives like LDC, contributing to open-access linguistic datasets. Labs/Teams: Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC), Institute for Research in Cognitive Science (IRCS), and collaborations in computational linguistics and neuroscience.
Adam Hollowell is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Program in Education at Duke University, where he also serves as Senior Research Associate at the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and Director of the Inequality Studies Minor. His teaching spans ethics, inequality studies, and history across Duke’s Kenan Institute for Ethics, Sanford School of Public Policy, and Department of History. Hollowell holds a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh (2009). His research focuses on inequality, higher education, public policy, and ethics, with notable work on pandemic impacts, telemedicine in education, and reproductive health access during crises. In Inequality Studies , Hollowell emphasizes understanding policies to drive social change, as highlighted in recent media coverage. His publications explore topics like student behavior shifts during the pandemic, telemedicine adoption in universities, and James Baldwin’s ethical challenges. He is a finalist for the Judith Deckers Prize (2024). Professionally, Hollowell leads projects such as Bass Connections on college contraception access and Story+ initiatives. His work bridges academia and public engagement, addressing systemic inequities through interdisciplinary approaches.
Kaiming He is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), holding the Douglas Ross (1954) Career Development Professor of Software Technology chair. He also works part-time as a Distinguished Scientist at Google DeepMind. Prior to joining MIT in 2024, he was a research scientist at Facebook AI Research (FAIR) from 2016 to 2024, and a researcher at Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) from 2011 to 2016. Dr. He received his PhD from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2011 and his Bachelor of Science from Tsinghua University in 2007. His academic journey reflects a strong foundation in computer science and engineering that has led to transformative contributions in artificial intelligence. His research primarily focuses on computer vision and deep learning, with pioneering work on deep residual networks (ResNets), visual object detection and segmentation, and self-supervised learning. He is best known for his work on Deep Residual Networks (ResNets), recognized as the most-cited paper of the twenty-first century. The residual connections he pioneered are now fundamental components in modern deep learning architectures including Transformers, AlphaGo Zero, AlphaFold, and various generative AI models. His recent publications demonstrate continued innovation across generative models, transformer architectures, and cross-disciplinary AI applications. His work bridges theoretical advances in neural network design with practical implementations that address real-world challenges in physics, biology, and other scientific domains. PAMI Young Researcher Award (2018) Best Paper Award, CVPR (2009, 2016) Best Paper Award, ICCV (2017) Best Student Paper Award, ICCV (2017) Everingham Prize, ICCV (2021) Most-cited paper of the twenty-first century Dr. He advises graduate students including Jake Austin, Xingjian Bai, and Mingyang Deng, and teaches advanced courses such as "6.S978: Deep Generative Models" (Fall 2024) and "6.8300/6.8301: Advances in Computer Vision" (Spring 2024). His research group actively explores how AI can serve as a unifying framework across scientific disciplines, breaking down traditional barriers between fields through shared methodologies and tools.
Antoine Bosselut is a Tenure Track Assistant Professor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences, where he leads the EPFL NLP group. His research focuses on developing AI reasoning agents that can model, represent, and reason about human and world knowledge, with applications in health, education, and global fairness. His research interests span multiple critical areas in modern AI: LLM Representations of Knowledge: Understanding what language models know and how they represent that knowledge internally Reasoning Algorithms: Developing methods to improve LLMs' reasoning capabilities through symbolic systems, neuroscience, and cognitive science Large-scale AI Development: Creating open-source foundation models with multilingual capabilities AI Democratization: Ensuring equitable access to AI technologies across different cultural and regulatory contexts His recent publications reveal a strong focus on the intersection of language models and cognitive science, with multiple studies examining how LLMs align with human cognition. He's also deeply engaged in practical applications of NLP technology, particularly in education and multilingual settings, as evidenced by his work on evaluating AI's impact on higher education and developing culturally-aware language models. His scientific achievements have been recognized with several prestigious awards: Outstanding Paper Award at NAACL 2025 ELLIS Scholar designation in 2024 Outstanding Paper Award at ACL 2023 Inclusion in Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Science & Healthcare in 2021 Bosselut actively mentors numerous PhD students across diverse NLP research areas and has secured significant recognition for his work in both academic and media circles. His lab has been featured in major publications including Communications of the ACM, The Atlantic, and Quanta Magazine, highlighting the societal impact of his research on commonsense reasoning and AI capabilities.
Ben Nobbs-Thiessen is an Assistant Professor of History and Chair of Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg. He holds a PhD from Emory University (2016), with prior roles as a research associate at Arizona State University (2016–18) and a teaching fellow at Washington State University (2018–2020). His research focuses on Mennonite migrations across the Americas, environmental change, and indigenous-settler relations. He teaches courses on Latin American Mennonites and Mennonite Studies II. His research combines archival work, field studies, and oral histories from Bolivia, Paraguay, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. His 2020 book Landscape of Migration examines Bolivia’s lowland colonization and its intersection with Mennonite and indigenous communities. Current projects include a century-long study of Mexico-Canada Mennonite migrations linked to water scarcity and neoliberal reforms. His publications span journals like Journal of Latin American Studies and Agricultural History , addressing topics like frontier development, foodways, and border conflicts. His transnational approach bridges environmental, migration, and colonial histories. He contributes to interdisciplinary initiatives such as the Newberry Consortium in American Indian Studies and the Centre for Rupert's Land Studies.
Professor Michael Ben-Gad is a Professor of Economics at City, University of London, where he has served since 2009. He previously held roles as Head of the Department of Economics (2010–2013) and Deputy Head (2008–2010). His research focuses on dynamic macroeconomics, taxation, public debt, immigration economics, and national security, with notable contributions to endogenous growth models and compositional data econometrics. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago (1996) and has taught at institutions including the University of Houston and University of Haifa. Ben-Gad served on the U.S. National Academy of Sciences panel on immigration's economic and fiscal impacts (2014–2016) and received a 2017 Fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). His work spans academic journals (Economic Modelling, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control) and media outlets (BBC, CNBC, Al Jazeera), addressing topics like Brexit economics, fiscal policy, and geopolitical challenges. He co-convenes the City Branch of Academics for Academic Freedom and is a founding member of London Universities' Council for Academic Freedom. His research grants include funding from HM Treasury/ESRC on fiscal policy and immigration (2011), the Israel Science Foundation (2007–2008), and the Samuel Ne'eman Foundation (2004). Professional roles include editorial board membership for Economic Affairs and membership of the ESRC Grant Assessment Panel (2021). He is proficient in Hebrew and contributes to policy debates on taxation, macroprudential frameworks, and defense economics.
Tianqi Chen is an Assistant Professor at the Machine Learning Department and Computer Science Department of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), with a courtesy appointment as a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department within the College of Engineering. His research focuses on scalable machine learning systems, compiler optimization, and efficient deep learning frameworks. He holds a PhD from the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington. Key contributions include the creation of XGBoost, Apache TVM, and MLC-LLM—widely adopted systems for machine learning and large language models. His work bridges algorithmic innovation with high-performance computing, emphasizing efficient deployment, quantization, and edge computing. Recent publications highlight advancements in LLM serving (e.g., WebLLM, Flashinfer), compiler-driven optimizations (e.g., TVM, Relax), and low-latency inference techniques (e.g., Magicdec, Tilus). These efforts address scalability, energy efficiency, and cross-platform compatibility in modern AI systems. Chen’s research has been applied to diverse domains, including music AI, browser-based inference, and microservice architectures for LLMs. His work underscores the importance of system-level thinking in advancing AI capabilities.
Claire Bowern is Professor of Linguistics at Yale University specializing in historical linguistics, language documentation, and Australian Indigenous languages. Her research employs computational phylogenetics to study language evolution and supports language revitalization through digital archives and fieldwork methodologies. Recent publications address: Phylogenetic signal in lexical evolution across language families Digital infrastructure for endangered language documentation (FLEx software analysis) Decolonizing linguistics pedagogy and research practices Her work consistently integrates linguistic, anthropological, and computational approaches to analyze language diversity and change. She contributes to global databases including Grambank and D-PLACE, examining links between linguistic, cultural, and environmental patterns.
