Anita Raja

Anita Raja is a Professor of Computer Science at Hunter College and a member of the doctoral faculty at the Graduate Center, CUNY. She previously served as Acting Chair of the Department (2024-2025), Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs at The Cooper Union (2014-2019), and Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2003-2014).

Educational Background:

• B.S. Honors in Computer Science with Mathematics minor (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from Temple University (1996)
• M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2003) in Computer Science from University of Massachusetts Amherst

Her research focuses on bounded rationality, distributed problem-solving, and artificial intelligence. She has pioneered real-time multiagent systems under uncertainty and limited resources, with significant contributions in automated refactoring of deep learning programs and healthcare risk prediction models.

Scientific Awards:

• FASE 2025 Distinguished Paper Award
• 2024 TEDxCUNY Speaker
• 2021 NIH Decoding Maternal Morbidity Challenge Prize
• 2019 Crain's Notable Women in Tech
• 2010 IEEE IAT Best Paper Award
• 2006 UNCC Essam El-Kwae Research Award

As director of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research (DAIR) Lab, Raja's work is supported by NSF, NIH, ONR, DARPA, DHS, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). She co-chairs the Civic-Led Urban Adaptation Research Center (CIVIC-UARC) and serves on the AAAI Executive Council (2022-present).