Professor Bernd Möbius is a leading academic in Phonetics and Phonology at the Department of Language Science and Technology, Saarland University. His research bridges phonetic theory with speech technology applications, focusing on text-to-speech systems, prosody modeling, and computational simulations of speech processes. Current research projects: DFG SFB 1102, C1: Information density and phonetic structure predictability DFG SFB 1102, C4: Slavic intercomprehension and surprisal theory (INCOMSLAV) Research Themes: Key areas include text-to-speech synthesis, speech prosody analysis, experimental methods in speech production/perception, information density in phonetics, and cross-linguistic studies of Slavic-Germanic languages. Scientific Contributions: Recent work explores Parkinson-induced dysarthria detection, breath noise acoustics, surprisal-driven speech behaviors, multilingual BERT models for idiomaticity, and perceptual consequences of acoustic adjustments.
David A. Smith is an Associate Professor at the Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Northeastern University. His research focuses on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and computational linguistics, with applications in machine translation, information retrieval, digital humanities, and social sciences. He is a founding member of the NULab for Texts, Maps, and Networks, a research center focused on digital humanities and computational social sciences. Smith's work has been funded by grants from the Mellon Foundation, NEH, and IMLS, supporting projects such as the Viral Texts initiative analyzing 19th-century newspaper networks and the Oceanic Exchanges project tracking transnational information flows. He has contributed to advancements in OCR for historical texts, text reuse detection, and computational analysis of classical languages. He has advised numerous PhD students, including Shijia Liu, Si Wu, and Ryan Muther, and teaches courses like Natural Language Processing and Information Retrieval. His research has been featured in outlets like Wired and the Economist .
Sara Stymne is a Senior Lecturer in Computational Linguistics at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, where she has been working since 2012. She initially joined as a post-doc (2012-2015), then worked as a researcher (2015-2017), and served as an assistant professor (2017-2023) before her current position as Senior Lecturer. Prior to Uppsala, she was a researcher at Linköping University's Department of Computer and Information Science. Dr. Stymne earned her PhD in Computational Linguistics from Linköping University in 2012 with the thesis 'Text Harmonization Strategies for Phrase-Based Statistical Machine Translation,' following a Licentiate degree in Computational Linguistics (2009) and a Master's degree in Cognitive Science (2006), both also from Linköping University. During her doctoral studies, she spent the autumn of 2010 and spring of 2009 at Xerox Research Centre Europe in Grenoble, France. Her primary research interests focus on cross-lingual natural language processing and digital humanities, with particular emphasis on multilingual dependency parsing. Dr. Stymne is passionate about applying computational linguistics to solve research questions in other fields, including language history, literary analysis, and political science. Her earlier work concentrated on machine translation, with specific interests in discourse-aware translation, compound processing, and error analysis. She has made significant contributions to the development of language technology tools for analyzing dialogue, narrative, and stylistic features in literature. Analysis of Dr. Stymne's recent publications reveals a strong focus on cross-lingual and cross-domain natural language processing. Her work spans multiple subfields including dependency parsing across genres and topics, discourse relation analysis in low-resource languages like Egyptian Arabic, direct speech identification in Swedish literature, and causality detection in governmental documents. A notable trend is her application of NLP techniques to digital humanities problems, particularly in analyzing literary texts and historical language change. Her research often involves creating and utilizing specialized datasets for specific linguistic phenomena across multiple languages. Dr. Stymne actively supervises graduate students, having guided numerous master's and bachelor's theses on topics ranging from speech recognition to multilingual parsing and causality detection. She leads or participates in several research projects including 'Fictional prose and language change' (funded by VR, 2021-2023) and 'Enabling climate-resilient development' (funded by Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, 2023-2027), demonstrating her commitment to interdisciplinary research with practical applications. Her work has resulted in several notable software resources including uuPronPred for cross-lingual pronoun prediction, uuparser for dependency parsing, and Docent for document-level machine translation. Within the Computational Linguistics and Language Technology group at Uppsala University, Dr. Stymne contributes to multiple research initiatives focused on developing language technology tools for digital humanities applications. Her team works closely with literary scholars and historians to create computational methods for analyzing large corpora of literary texts, particularly focusing on Swedish literature across different historical periods. Her research bridges the gap between theoretical computational linguistics and practical applications in the humanities, creating new methodologies for quantitative analysis of literary and historical texts.
Dr. Jérôme Verny is an Associate Professor specializing in transport, logistics, and supply chain management. He is the founder and director of the research institute in innovative transport and logistics, as well as the co-founder of the DISC Master's program (Digital & Innovative Supply Chain) in Paris and the Mobility Accelerator. His expertise spans digitalization in logistics, blockchain applications, and sustainable development. Educated at the University of Lille Nord de France (PhD in Economics and Management) and engineering schools like École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, he advises both public institutions (OECD, EU) and private enterprises on transportation strategies. Research Interests: Dr. Verny focuses on supply chain innovation, digital transformation, and strategic logistics. His work integrates blockchain technology for supply chain transparency, optimizes last-mile delivery in urban environments, and analyzes the impact of geopolitical actors like China on global trade networks. He also explores sustainable practices in transportation, including CO2 reduction strategies and pandemic response logistics. Awards: Recipient of the 2009 OECD-FIT Young Researcher Prize in Transport. His contributions bridge academic research with practical applications in industry, policy, and international trade. Key Activities: Co-founded the DISC Master’s program and leads research initiatives on blockchain adoption, Arctic shipping routes, and Mediterranean trade dynamics. He actively contributes to conferences such as the International Association of Maritime Economists (IAME) and publishes in journals like Structural Change and Economic Dynamics and International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics . Labs/Teams: Directs the Institut de Recherche en Transport et Logistique Innovante and collaborates with institutions like the OECD and European Commission on transport policy. His interdisciplinary approach involves engineering, economics, and data science to address global supply chain challenges.
Dr. Muhammad Abdul-Mageed is an Associate Professor in the School of Information at The University of British Columbia, with joint appointments in Linguistics and an associate membership in Computer Science. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning. His research focuses on deep learning, socio-pragmatics, and speech/language technologies, particularly for Arabic and African languages. He leads the UBC Deep Learning & NLP Group and co-directs SSHRC-funded grants like I Trust AI and Ensuring Full Literacy. He is a founding member of the Center for Artificial Intelligence Decision making and Action and a member of the Institute for Computing, Information, and Cognitive Systems. His work spans automatic speech recognition, machine translation, computational socio-pragmatics, and low-resource language technologies. Notable projects include developing Arabic speech recognition systems, multidialectal Arabic benchmarks, and tools for African language processing. He has authored over 100 peer-reviewed papers and leads initiatives like the NADI Arabic Dialect Identification shared task and the NileChat project for culturally-aware LLMs. His research aims to create equitable, socially-aware AI systems for health, social media, and information management.
Zainab Hermes is an Associate Instructional Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, where she has taught since 2018. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2018), earned through experimental research combining phonetics and neuroscience methodologies. Education PhD in Linguistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2018) Research Interests Her work focuses on experimental linguistics, particularly the articulation of Arabic dialects (Cairene, Lebanese, Jordanian, Saudi). Key projects involve: MRI studies of vocal tract configurations for back consonants MEG investigations of neurological representations during Arabic diglossic code-switching Self-paced reading studies on L2 acquisition of Arabic grammatical gender Publications & Methodologies Her research employs advanced imaging techniques (rt-MRI, EMA) and neurolinguistic methods (MEG) to analyze speech production and processing. Her teaching includes courses on Arabic linguistics, dialectology, and academic reading. Academic Contributions She collaborates on interdisciplinary studies bridging phonetics, neuroscience, and language acquisition frameworks.
Lisa L. Wynn is Professor in the School of Social Sciences (Discipline of Anthropology) at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. She serves as Associate Editor of American Ethnologist (2022-2027) and previously held leadership positions including President of the Australian Anthropological Society (2020) and membership on the AAS Executive Committee (2018-2021). Wynn earned her PhD in 2003 from Princeton University's Anthropology Department, followed by postdoctoral positions at Princeton's Office of Population Research and Center for Health and Wellbeing. Her research program centers on gender, reproductive health technologies, sexuality, and religion, with continuous fieldwork in Egypt since 1998. More recently, she has expanded her work to examine ethics review bureaucracies, lay understandings of infectious disease, and young adult vaping behaviors in Australia. Her methodological approach combines deep ethnographic engagement with critical analysis of how power structures intersect with medical technologies and bodily experiences, particularly among marginalized communities. Analysis of her recent publications reveals an evolving trajectory that maintains her foundational interest in Middle Eastern contexts while increasingly addressing digital spaces (as seen in studies of online fatwas) and contemporary health crises (including pandemic responses and vaping culture), with consistent attention to bodily autonomy and reproductive justice. Her significant scholarly contributions have been recognized through multiple prestigious awards: Vice Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Award from Macquarie University (2009) Australian Award for Teaching Excellence (2012) OLT National Teaching Fellowship (2012-2014) Leeds Honor Prize from the Society for Urban, National, and Transnational/Global Anthropology (2008) Wynn actively mentors graduate researchers specializing in gender, sexuality, medicine and technology, with particular emphasis on sexual and reproductive health. Her research program has received substantial funding from the Social Science Research Council, Australian Research Council, Office of Learning and Teaching, and Hort Innovation. Notably, she co-led a major international project to develop multilingual sexual and reproductive health resources that have reached millions of users across 208 countries. She also created a free online ethics training program for humanities and social sciences researchers at Macquarie University. Through collaborations with Cambridge Reproductive Health Consultants and other partners, Wynn has successfully translated academic research into accessible public resources, including evidence-based information on medication abortion available in six languages (English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Turkish, and Farsi).
Professor Eric Atwell is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence for Language at the University of Leeds' School of Computer Science, part of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. He holds additional roles as a LITE Fellow at the Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence (40% part-time), Turing Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, and member of the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics (LIDA) and Language at Leeds (LATL). His research focuses on AI applications in corpus linguistics, text analytics, and computational analysis of religious and medical texts, with a strong emphasis on Arabic and Islamic studies. He leads the AI4L research group and has supervised over 60 research students and fellows, many of whom have pursued careers in academia, tech, and AI-driven fields. Education: PhD in Corpus Linguistics and Language Learning (University of Leeds, 2008), BA (First Class) in Computing and Linguistics (Lancaster University, 1981) Grants: Includes EPSRC-funded projects like Natural Language Processing with Arabic and Islamic Studies (£337K, 2013-2015) and EDUBOTS chatbots for education (£94K, 2019-2022) Teaching: Leads modules in Data Mining, Text Analytics, and AI across multiple programs, including online Masters and PhDs. Known for innovative teaching approaches and student support, receiving positive feedback for engagement and course design. Research Interests: AI applied to corpus linguistics, Quranic text analysis, Arabic NLP, chatbots for education, and decolonizing curricula. Notable projects include Quranic semantic search tools, Hadith corpus analysis, and AI-driven fact-checking systems. Publications: Over 277 publications, with recent work focusing on Quranic QA systems, Arabic dialect identification, and generative AI applications in education. His research is widely cited, earning recognition from ResearchGate for high readership. Awards: Recognized for his most-read research items on ResearchGate (June 2021). Gallup StrengthsFinder highlights his top traits as Learner, Achiever, Ideation, Intellection, and Maximizer. Labs/Teams: Leads the AI4L research group and collaborates with international institutions including SUSTECH Sudan, King Saud University, and SWJT University (China). Active in research networks like LIDA and LATL.
Mohammad T. Alhawary is Professor of Arabic Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition at the University of Michigan's Middle East Studies department within the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. He serves as Director of both the MA Program in Arabic for Professional Purposes (APP) and the MA Program in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL). His educational background includes a Ph.D. from Georgetown University (1999). Prior to joining the University of Michigan, he contributed to developing Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies programs at various US institutions. Professor Alhawary's research spans both theoretical and applied Arabic linguistics, with particular focus on second language acquisition processes. His work examines how factors like age, input quality, output practice, and first language transfer affect Arabic language learning. He has made significant contributions to understanding Arabic language pedagogy, curriculum design, proficiency testing, and the application of technology in language learning. His research also extends to bilingualism, multilingualism, language impairment, and Arabic medieval grammatical traditions. His publications reflect a strong trajectory in Arabic linguistics research, with recent works focusing on practical language teaching applications, reading comprehension mechanisms, code-switching patterns in digital communication, and multilingual acquisition processes. The 2023 publication 'Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language' represents his latest contribution to language pedagogy methodology. 2019 AATA Book Award for 'Arabic Second Language Learning and Effects of Input, Transfer, and Typology' As an academic leader, Professor Alhawary serves as Executive Director of the American Association of Teachers of Arabic and edits both the Journal of Arabic Linguistics Tradition and Al-'Arabiyya journal. He continues to develop empirical research on Arabic second language acquisition to inform teaching practices both in America and globally.
Lourdes Ortega is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Georgetown University and serves as Faculty Director of Georgetown’s Initiative for Multilingual Studies. Her work focuses on multilingualism beyond childhood, equitable language education, and decolonial epistemologies. She mentors students at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. Former positions include roles at University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (2004-2012), Northern Arizona University (2002-2004), and Georgia State University (2000-2002). Education: Ph.D. and M.A. from University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her research investigates how multilingualism develops in non-native contexts, advocating for social justice and equity in language education. Key contributions include her award-winning 2000 meta-analysis in Language Learning , the textbook Understanding Second Language Acquisition (2009), and co-editing The Cambridge Handbook of Bilingualism (2019). Recent work addresses under-studied languages like Arabic and Urdu in U.S. K-12 education, emphasizing decolonial and Indigenous frameworks. She has published extensively in top journals such as Applied Linguistics , Studies in Second Language Acquisition , and World Englishes . Awards: Gerald M. Mara Faculty Mentoring Award (2016, 2020), Pimsleur Award (2001), and 2023 recognition as a top 2% cited researcher. She advises 22 doctoral students and has secured grants supporting multilingual education research. Leads Georgetown’s Initiative for Multilingual Studies, co-chairs the Harmonious Bilingualism Network (HaBilNet), and edits Language Learning . Served as President of the American Association for Applied Linguistics (2023-2024). Her work bridges theory and practice, prioritizing cura personalis (care for the individual) in mentoring and advocating for multilingual well-being.
Elsayed Issa is an Assistant Professor in the School of Languages and Cultures at Purdue University. Specializing in Computational Linguistics and Arabic, his interdisciplinary research bridges Natural Language Processing (NLP) with Second Language Acquisition (SLA), focusing on conversational AI and speech technology for under-resourced languages. Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Arizona (2023) Research integrates NLP, conversational AI, and SLA methodologies Develops tools for computer-assisted pronunciation training (CAPT) Focuses on Arabic dialectology and large language models (LLMs) His work employs Transformer architectures and end-to-end machine learning to enhance language learning systems. Recent projects include ArabiBot development and dialect identification models. He specializes in speech-to-text systems , prosody modeling , and emotional speech analysis for Arabic language learning applications.
Erik Velldal is a Professor in the Language Technology Group (LTG) at the Section for Machine Learning , Department of Informatics, University of Oslo . With over 25 years of experience in machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), he leads the SANT project focused on sentiment analysis and contributes to major research initiatives including MediaFutures , NorwAI , and Integreat (Norwegian Center for AI Research). His work bridges linguistic theory and computational methods, emphasizing semantic modeling and uncertainty detection. Research interests include sentiment analysis , language modeling , event extraction , and machine learning applications to NLP. Recent publications address cross-domain sentiment classification , generative event analysis , and multilingual model adaptation . He co-developed the Norwegian Review Corpus (NoReC) and Norwegian Anaphora Resolution Corpus (NARC) , foundational resources for Norwegian NLP. His projects often involve collaboration with international institutions, reflected in publications at venues like ACL, COLING, and EMNLP. Current efforts focus on entity-level sentiment analysis , diagnostic datasets for Norwegian , and evaluating compositional generalization in language models. No public record of scientific awards or part-time appointments exists.
Marwa Elshakry is an Associate Professor at Columbia University, specializing in the history of science, technology, and medicine in the modern Middle East. Her research bridges cultural and intellectual history with the study of scientific exchange and adaptation. Ph.D. — Princeton University (2003) M.A. — Princeton University (1997) B.A. — Rutgers University (1995) Her work critically examines the cultural politics of scientific translation, the role of religion in shaping scientific discourse, and the transnational movement of ideas. She has published extensively on topics like Darwinism in Arabic, the intersection of science and scripture, and the colonial dynamics of scientific knowledge transfer. Marwa's publications highlight themes such as the historiographical challenges of mapping science's global journey, the theological interpretations of scientific concepts in Islamic contexts, and the impact of missionary activities on scientific education in the Ottoman Empire. Her scholarship underscores the agency of non-Western actors in recontextualizing scientific knowledge.
Jeanna Matthews is a Full Professor of Computer Science at Clarkson University and an affiliate at Data and Society. She holds a PhD from UC Berkeley (1999) and teaches courses ranging from operating systems to cybersecurity. Her research focuses on algorithmic transparency, AI ethics, and societal impacts of automated systems. Matthews is a prominent ACM leader, serving on multiple committees including the Technology Policy Subcommittee on AI Accountability. She has pioneered work on forensic software analysis in criminal justice systems and delivered DEF CON presentations on virtualization security and adversarial testing. Awards include ACM Distinguished Speaker and Fulbright Specialist roles. Her work emphasizes open-source tools and critical thinking in education, extending to global service learning programs in the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Education: PhD in Computer Science (UC Berkeley, 1999), B.S. in Math/Computer Science (Ohio State, 1994), B.A. in Spanish (SUNY Potsdam, 2016). Research Interests: Cybersecurity vulnerabilities, algorithmic accountability frameworks, automated decision systems in justice contexts, and ethical AI design. Recent projects include investigating bias in DNA forensic software through a Brown Institute grant and analyzing political polarization on social platforms. Awards & Recognition: ACM Distinguished Speaker (2018-present) Fulbright Specialist (2018-present) 2018-2019 Brown Institute Magic Grant ACM SIGOPS Chair (2011-2015) ACM Special Interest Group Governing Board Chair (2016-2018) Teaching & Outreach: Designed courses integrating open-source tools and critical inquiry, including abroad programs in Mexico, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. Advocates for lifelong learning strategies and questioning underlying assumptions in computing systems. Key Projects: Forensic Software Accountability: Examining discrepancies in DNA analysis tools Algorithmic Transparency: Frameworks for auditing automated systems Cybersecurity Education: Adversarial testing methodologies for justice software
Ahmed Ferhadi is a Clinical Professor of Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies at New York University (NYU), specializing in linguistics with a focus on Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, and Language Testing. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Michigan (1990), an MA in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL) from the same institution, and an M.S. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh. His teaching career spans institutions like Princeton University, Columbia University, and Kurdish universities such as Salahuddin and Suleimaniyya Universities. He pioneered video-based language performance evaluation methods during his tenure at Middlebury College in 1991, which became a standard practice. Ferhadi has also served in high-level advisory roles, including President of the Association of American Teachers of Arabic (AATA) since 2017 and Distinguished Global Scholar of Kurdish Studies at American University (2010). Research interests include Kurdish language standardization, advanced Arabic pedagogy, and the sociopolitical dimensions of language. His projects include a Kurdish standardization initiative and curriculum development for advanced Arabic learners. Ferhadi has received numerous accolades, including the Golden Teaching Award (NYU 2000) and Top Language Award (U.S. Department of State 2006). His publications span linguistic theory, pedagogical techniques, and cultural studies, with recent works addressing Arabic dialect dynamics and Kurdish language policy. Ferhadi’s work bridges academic rigor with practical applications, emphasizing technology’s role in modern language education.
