Jens Palsberg

Jens Palsberg is a Professor and former Department Chair of Computer Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he currently serves as Director of the UCLA-Amazon Science Hub for Humanity and Artificial Intelligence and co-director of UCLA's quantum research center. He chairs ACM SIGPLAN and is a member of the ACM Council.

His research spans programming languages, software engineering, quantum computing, compilers, embedded systems, and information security. Palsberg has authored over 80 technical papers, co-authored the book Object-Oriented Type Systems, and revised Appel's textbook on Modern Compiler Implementation in Java. His recent work shows a significant shift toward quantum computing, including compiler techniques and program analysis for quantum systems.

Analysis of his recent publications reveals a clear transition from traditional programming language research to quantum computing, with nearly half of his 2022-2024 publications focusing on quantum topics while maintaining strong work in software engineering and programming languages. His quantum research particularly emphasizes compiler optimization, abstract interpretation, and circuit analysis.

• ACM SIGPLAN Distinguished Service Award (2012)
• UCLA teaching award for quantum computing courses (2023)
• National Science Foundation CAREER and ITR awards
• Purdue University Faculty Scholar award
• IBM Faculty Award
• Okawa Foundation research award

Palsberg has served in numerous leadership roles including general chair of POPL, conference chair of LICS, and vice chair of ACM SIGBED. His research has been supported by DARPA, Intel, British Telecom, and the National Science Foundation. He was instrumental in establishing UCLA's Masters degree in quantum science and has mentored numerous students through his legendary proof sessions.

He leads a research group of over 30 professors in UCLA's quantum research center and maintains active collaborations across academia and industry, particularly with Amazon through the UCLA-Amazon Science Hub.