Alexander L. Wolf

Alexander L. Wolf is the Dean of the Baskin School of Engineering and a Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He holds a B.A. in Geology and Computer Science from Queens College (CUNY), and M.S./Ph.D. degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His career includes foundational roles at AT&T Bell Laboratories, the University of Colorado (where he held the Charles Victor Schelke Chair), the University of Lugano (founding the Faculty of Informatics), and Imperial College London.

Wolf's research bridges distributed systems, networking, and software engineering, with recent projects in cloud computing, data-center networking, and mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). His work emphasizes scalable architectures, fault tolerance, and adaptive service deployment. Key projects include HARNESS (hardware-enhanced cloud systems) and SERECA (secure cloud enclaves).

His publications focus on optimizing networked systems, fault localization, and adaptive resource management. Trends include rigorous simulation-based validation, cross-layer optimization (e.g., integrating GPUs/networking), and practical applications in geosciences (Reverse-Time Migration) and machine learning (Bing's AdPredictor).

• Awards: ACM/IEEE/AAAS Fellow; Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award; Two-time ACM SIGSOFT Research Impact Award; ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Research & Distinguished Service Awards.

Wolf leads major grants (e.g., EU H2020 SERECA, EPSRC NaaS) and has chaired ACM's Executive Committee. He founded ACM's Europe Council and contributed to seminal tools like the Siena publish/subscribe system. His team develops experimental platforms (e.g., Weevil for distributed testbeds) and collaborates with industry (AT&T, Microsoft Bing).