Silvio Micali

Silvio Micali is a Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, affiliated with the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science under the School of Engineering. He has been at MIT since 1983, holding roles from Assistant Professor to Full Professor since 1991.

• Education: Undergraduate in mathematics from Sapienza University, Rome (1978); PhD in mathematics from UC Berkeley (1982).

Research interests include:

• Cryptography: Formal security definitions, zero-knowledge proofs, interactive proofs.
• Theoretical Computer Science: Computational randomness, complexity theory, reductions.
• Mechanism Design: Robust protocols with collusion and privacy considerations.
• Game Theory: Applications in distributed systems and security.

Scientific awards include the ACM A. M. Turing Award (2012), Gödel Prize (1993), RSA Prize in Cryptography (2004), and memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Practical Impact: Over 50 patents in encryption, digital signatures, and electronic cash; co-founded Peppercoin (acquired 2007) and CoreStreet (acquired 2009).