Alexandra Meliou

Alexandra Meliou is a Professor and Associate Chair of Faculty Development in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She holds a PhD from UC Berkeley and has been recognized for research, teaching, and service with awards including the NSF CAREER Award and Google Faculty Research Award. Her work focuses on data management challenges such as data quality, fairness, and system explanations. She co-directs the DREAM Lab and actively promotes diversity in computer science.

Research Interests: Her research emphasizes data quality diagnostics, fairness in algorithms, and user-facing database systems. Key projects include Themis (fairness testing), PackageBuilder (optimization queries), and SQuID (query intent discovery). She explores causal reasoning to explain data system behaviors and mitigate biases.

Awards & Contributions: Beyond her technical contributions, Meliou has received teaching excellence (Lilly Fellowship) and service awards. She chairs DEI initiatives in database conferences and contributes to academic governance through roles like SIGMOD PC Co-Chair.

Education: PhD (Computer Science, UC Berkeley, 2009), MS (UC Berkeley, 2005), BS (National Technical University of Athens, 2003).