Huijia (Rachel) Lin

Huijia (Rachel) Lin serves as Professor at the University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering, holding the Paul G. Allen Development Professorship with research bridging theoretical computer science and cryptographic security systems.

Her academic foundation includes:

• PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University
• Postdoctoral research at MIT CSAIL and Boston University Department of Computer Science

Dr. Lin's research pioneers foundational cryptographic constructs including program obfuscation, functional encryption, attribute-based encryption, and concurrent security protocols. Her theoretical work directly enables practical secure computation systems through rigorous mathematical frameworks in complexity theory and algorithm design, establishing new paradigms for privacy-preserving technologies.

Her scientific recognition encompasses:

• NSF CAREER award
• Hellman Fellowship
• Cisco research award
• JP Morgan Faculty award
• Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship
• Best paper award at STOC 2021
• Best paper award at Eurocrypt 2018
• Best paper honorable mention at Eurocrypt 2016
• Invited speaker at International Congress of Mathematicians (2022)
• ScienceNews '10 scientists to watch' (2022)

Dr. Lin actively mentors graduate students in cryptographic theory while securing substantial research funding from NSF, Cisco, JP Morgan, and Microsoft Research. Her earlier Assistant Professorship at UC Santa Barbara established her trajectory in advancing cryptographic foundations before her current UW appointment.

She drives collaborative research through dual leadership in the university's Cryptography Group and Theory of Computation Group, focusing on next-generation secure computation models and cryptographic hardness assumptions within the Paul G. Allen School's theoretical research ecosystem.