Zeliha Dilsun Kaynar

Zeliha Dilsun Kaynar is an Associate Teaching Professor at the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). She holds a Ph.D. (2002, University of Edinburgh) and B.Sc. (1996, Middle East Technical University) in Computer Science, and a Doçent degree from Turkey's higher education council. Prior to CMU, she worked at CMU CyLab and MIT's Theory of Distributed Systems Group (2001–2006).

Her teaching focuses on principles of programming, programming languages, formal modeling, and verification. Research interests include distributed systems, security, formal verification of protocols, and accountability via causation. Notable work includes the Theory of Timed I/O Automata (2006/2010) and NSF-funded projects on blameworthy programs and accountability determination.

Collaborations span cybersecurity, education technology (e.g., Open Learning Initiative), and healthcare sustainability. She advises undergraduate CS students and co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed papers across journals like Journal of Computer Security and conferences such as CSF and Oakland.