Ruta Mehta

Ruta Mehta is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since 2016 she has led a vibrant research program in algorithmic game theory, market design, and fair division, while actively shaping the community through service roles such as Program Co-Chair of WINE 2020 and Area Chair of EC 2021.

Education

• Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, 2012. (Advisors: Prof. Milind Sohoni & Prof. Bharat Adsul; ACM India Doctoral Dissertation Award 2012)
• M.Tech. in Computer Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, 2005
• B.E. in Computer Engineering, Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) Baroda, 2003

Research Interests

Mehta’s work lies at the intersection of theoretical computer science, mathematical economics, and social choice theory. She investigates the computability and complexity of equilibria—both market and Nash—under a variety of utility models, and designs provably efficient algorithms that are practical for real-world resource-allocation tasks. Current themes include:

• Algorithmic Game Theory: equilibrium computation, smoothed analysis, learning in games
• Fair Division: envy-freeness up to any good (EFX), mixed manna, competitive equilibrium with chores
• Interdisciplinary Applications: genetic evolution, machine-learning markets, climate-aware allocation

Publication Trends

Her 15 most recent works (2017–2025) span Operations Research, Mathematics of Operations Research, STOC, SODA, EC, ITCS, AAMAS, and NeurIPS. The articles cluster around three thrusts: (i) rigorous hardness and approximation results for market equilibrium in Leontief and PLC exchange economies, (ii) algorithmic advances toward guaranteed EFX allocations and competitive equilibrium with mixed manna, and (iii) novel game-theoretic analyses of genetic diversity and strategic resource allocation under budget constraints.

Scientific Awards & Honors

• NSF CAREER Award (2018)
• Outstanding Post-Doctoral Researcher Award, Georgia Tech (2014)
• Rising Stars in EECS (2013)
• ACM India Doctoral Dissertation Award (2012)
• Google India Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship (2012)
• IBM PhD Award (2010)
• IBM PhD Fellowship (2009–2010)

Grants, Advising, and Community Leadership

Mehta currently mentors a growing group of graduate students and post-docs. She is PI on an NSF CAREER grant and has served on federal panels reviewing NSF CISE proposals. Beyond research, she founded the EC (AGT) Mentoring Workshop, co-located with the ACM Economics & Computation conference, to broaden participation of women and under-represented minorities in algorithmic game theory.

Labs & Teams

Her research group operates within the Theory & Algorithms cluster at UIUC, leveraging ties with the Decision & Control group and the Social & Algorithmic Thinking initiative. She is an active member of ACM SIGecom and regularly organizes reading groups on algorithmic game theory and fair division.