Ryen W. White

Ryen W. White is a Partner Research Director and Deputy Lab Director at Microsoft Research in Redmond, leading the LEAP (Language, Learning, Audio, Privacy) research area. He also serves as an Affiliate Full Professor at the University of Washington. His research focuses on multi-agent systems (AutoGen), action engines, and computational health. He has contributed to Microsoft products like Bing, Xbox, and Azure. Recognized as an ACM Fellow (2021), he leads roles in ACM SIGIR and ACM Transactions on the Web. He chairs conferences such as CHIIR and has received awards including the Tony Kent Strix Award (2022) and multiple SIGIR Best Paper awards. His PhD from the University of Glasgow (2005) was awarded the BCS Distinguished Dissertation Award.

• Education: PhD in Computing Science, University of Glasgow (2005)
• Key Roles: Vice Chair of ACM SIGIR, Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on the Web

Research Interests: Exploratory search, human-computer interaction, and generative AI in search systems. His work bridges theoretical contributions with practical applications in healthcare, gaming, and enterprise tools. Recent focus areas include task intelligence frameworks and ethical AI integration.

• Awards: SIGIR 2023 Test of Time Award, SIGIR 2022 Test of Time Award, SIGCHI Academy Membership

Leadership in organizing conferences like SIGIR, CHIIR, and WWW. Co-authored influential books on information access and search systems. Advised PhD committees at top institutions and continues to drive interdisciplinary research collaborations.