Claire Bowern is Professor of Linguistics at Yale University specializing in historical linguistics, language documentation, and Australian Indigenous languages. Her research employs computational phylogenetics to study language evolution and supports language revitalization through digital archives and fieldwork methodologies. Recent publications address: Phylogenetic signal in lexical evolution across language families Digital infrastructure for endangered language documentation (FLEx software analysis) Decolonizing linguistics pedagogy and research practices Her work consistently integrates linguistic, anthropological, and computational approaches to analyze language diversity and change. She contributes to global databases including Grambank and D-PLACE, examining links between linguistic, cultural, and environmental patterns.
Christina Antonie Reh is a Lecturer at the Lucerne School of Business (HSLU), affiliated with the Institute of Communication and Marketing (IKM MM). Her roles include academic teaching and research in digital marketing and sustainability. She holds a PhD from WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management and has professional experience in data science and marketing at companies like LOréal and SevenVentures. Education: PhD (tbc 2024), WHU; M.Sc. (2016), LMU Munich; B.Sc. (2013), LMU Munich Her research focuses on digital marketing effectiveness , sustainability in advertising , and consumer behavior . Notable projects include studies on long-term brand equity and sustainable product messaging. Recent work explores the impact of climate pledges on consumer trust. Publications highlight her contributions to media measurement modeling and online coupon strategies. Key awards include the Amazon Research Awards (ARA 2023) and MassChallenge recognition (2024). Advising: No formal students listed; however, co-founded baybies GmbH and Aiko Pet Foods GmbH. Grants: $28,000+ from Amazon Research Awards. Labs/Teams: Co-founder of startups baybies and Aiko Pet Foods, focusing on sustainable consumer products and pet food innovation.
Boris Hanin is an Associate Professor at Princeton University's Department of Operations Research and Financial Engineering (ORFE) and Associated Faculty at the Program in Applied and Computational Mathematics (PACM). Prior to Princeton, he held academic positions at Texas A&M University (Assistant Professor of Mathematics), MIT (NSF Postdoctoral Fellow), and Northwestern University (PhD in Mathematics under Steve Zelditch). He works part-time at Foundry, an AI/computing startup, leading the Foundry Institute. PhD in Mathematics, Northwestern University NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship, MIT Mathematics Associate Professor, Princeton ORFE Part-Time Leader, Foundry Institute His research spans machine learning, probability theory, and mathematical physics, focusing on neural network theory (approximation power, optimization guarantees), random matrix theory, and spectral asymptotics. He has made foundational contributions to understanding gradient behavior, initialization, and infinite-width limits in deep learning. Boris has supervised numerous PhD students and postdocs, with former members securing prestigious positions at Harvard, MIT, and Huawei. He serves as Associate Editor for journals like Pure and Applied Analysis and Mathematics of Operations Research , and has taught short courses at Oxford, Luxembourg, and Tor Vergata on statistical physics of neural networks and deep learning theory. 2024 Sloan Fellowship in Mathematics NSF CAREER grant DMS-2143754 NSF grant DMS-2133806 His research group collaborates on topics including hyperparameter transfer, architecture-aware scaling, and spectral analysis of random waves and neural networks. He actively contributes to theoretical machine learning through foundational publications in venues like Probability Theory and Related Fields , Journal of Machine Learning Research , and Communications in Mathematical Physics .
Justin Johnson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan's College of Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and a Research Scientist at Facebook AI Research (FAIR). His work bridges computer vision, machine learning, and deep learning, focusing on visual reasoning, vision-language tasks, image generation, and 3D reasoning using neural networks. PhD, Stanford University (advised by Fei-Fei Li) His research interests span visual reasoning , vision and language , 3D vision , and image generation , with a focus on innovative applications of deep neural networks. Recent publications highlight work on 3D consistency, self-supervised learning, and multimodal integration of vision and text. Notable contributions include PyTorch3D for 3D data processing, and foundational work in visual question answering , neural style transfer , and scene graph-based image generation . Publications span top conferences like ICCV, CVPR, and NeurIPS. He teaches courses including EECS 498/598: Deep Learning for Computer Vision and EECS 442: Computer Vision at University of Michigan, with prior involvement in Stanford's CS 231N in co-teaching roles. Software projects include open-source frameworks like fast-neural-style for real-time artistic style transfer, and PyTorch3D for efficient 3D deep learning. These tools demonstrate his commitment to practical implementations and community-driven research.
Carl Vondrick is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. His research focuses on creating robust and versatile perception systems that leverage video and interaction with the natural world, with applications in 3D reconstruction, visual question answering, and robot manipulation. Former research scientist at Google Visiting researcher at Cruise Education: PhD (2017) from MIT, advised by Antonio Torralba BS (2011) from UC Irvine, advised by Deva Ramanan His research explores multimodal approaches for cross-task and cross-modal transfer, scene dynamics, audiovisual perception, interpretable models, and spatial awareness systems. The lab emphasizes zero-shot generalization and neuro-symbolic methods while addressing safety and robustness in AI systems. Key publication trends include: 2025: Video generation for robotics 2024: Differentiable rendering and cross-modal reasoning 2023: Robust perception and 3D modeling Scientific Awards: 2024 PAMI Young Researcher Award 2021 NSF CAREER Award Teaching Roles: Teaching Computer Vision II (2021-2025), Computer Vision I (2018-2019), and Representation Learning (2020-2022). Advising: Advises 8 current PhD students and has mentored 5 graduated students now at institutions like MBZUAI and UMD. The lab recruits 1-2 PhD students annually through Columbia’s PhD program. Grants and Collaborations: Funded by NSF, DARPA, Toyota Research Institute, Amazon Research, and Google.
Christian Theobalt is a Professor of Computer Science at Saarland University and Scientific Director of the Visual Computing and Artificial Intelligence Department at the Max Planck Institute for Informatics . He leads the Saarbruecken Center for Visual Computing as a strategic partnership between Google and MPI. PhD in Computer Science (2005) from MPI-INF/Saarland University Postdoctoral Researcher at MPI (2005-2007) Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford (2007-2009) His research focuses on the intersection of Computer Graphics, Computer Vision, and Artificial Intelligence , with specializations in: 3D/4D Human Reconstruction Neural Rendering Performance Capture Geometric Deep Learning Volumetric Video Quantum Visual Computing Recent article trends show emphasis on: Quantum computing applications in visual reconstruction Neural rendering with radiance fields Human motion capture from egocentric views Gesture-language interaction modeling Multi-modal scene understanding Real-time free-viewpoint rendering Scientific Awards : Fellow of EUROGRAPHICS (2022) CVPR Best Student Paper Honorable Mention (2020) ERC Consolidator Grant (2017) Karl Heinz Beckurts Award (2017) Busy Beaver Teaching Award (2016) ERC Starting Grant (2013) Advising over 50 students and researchers including: Current researchers: Viktor Rudnev, Linjie Lyu, Mohit Mendiratta Postdocs: Kwang In Kim, Kiran Varanasi Alumni: Franziska Mueller (Google), Dushyant Mehta (Qualcomm), Ayush Tewari (MIT) Grants include ERC grants, Google Glass Research Award, and multiple industry partnerships. His lab maintains cutting-edge facilities with: Multi-camera capture systems Quantum annealing infrastructure HDR radiance field technology GPU clusters for AI research Time-of-flight imaging systems Event camera arrays
Andrea Voyer is a Professor of Sociology at Stockholm University , focusing on social norms, boundaries, and their role in shaping social inequality , particularly in the context of immigrant integration , class disparities, and ethnic inequality. She employs both qualitative and computational methods , including large-scale text analysis and cultural theory, to explore these themes. Her research has received funding from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond , the Swedish Research Council , the National Science Foundation (USA) , and the Russell Sage Foundation . Voyer serves as a program coordinator for master's programs in sociology and applied social research, and leads the department's research groups in qualitative methods , computational sociology , and cultural sociology . She is also an editorial board member for Sociological Theory and American Journal of Cultural Sociology , and contributes to public discourse on immigration, segregation, and social norms. Her recent publications highlight the use of computational techniques to analyze immigrant incorporation through shifts in mainstream discourse, the cultural processes of inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic , and the evolving role of class distinction-making in etiquette literature. These works bridge cultural theory with empirical analysis, offering actionable insights for addressing social inequality.
Prof. Christian Holz is an Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Deputy Head of the Institute of Intelligent Interactive Systems at ETH Zürich. His work focuses on advancing human-computer interaction through innovations in wearable technologies, mixed reality systems, and sensor-driven applications. Key research areas include motion capture, physiological signal processing, and adaptive user interfaces. Holz leads the SIPLab (siplab.ethz.ch), producing influential work at the intersection of computer science and biomedical engineering. His research explores cutting-edge topics such as egocentric vision systems, wearable health monitoring devices, and VR/AR applications. Recent studies investigate cybersickness detection via EEG, heart rate estimation from eye-tracking cameras, and scalable motion capture using inertial/UWB sensors. Holz's work emphasizes practical applications in healthcare, education, and human-centered computing. Publications reflect a strong focus on interdisciplinary solutions, combining machine learning with sensor data analysis. Notable contributions include the EgoSim multi-view simulator, WildPPG biomedical dataset, and MiBOT cardiovascular modulation device. His research bridges theoretical advancements with real-world usability in domains like emergency response training, chronic disease monitoring, and immersive education.
Robert West is an Associate Professor at EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) in the School of Computer and Communication Sciences , leading the Data Science Lab (dlab) . His research focuses on Natural Language Processing , Machine Learning , and Computational Social Science , analyzing human-generated data from the web, social media, and online platforms. Education : PhD in Computer Science (2016) - Stanford University MSc in Computer Science (2010) - McGill University BSc in Computer Science (2007) - Technische Universität München Research Interests : West develops algorithms for analyzing large-scale web data, with emphasis on multilingual NLP , social network analysis , and AI ethics . His work bridges machine learning with social science to understand digital human behavior. Scientific Awards : ICWSM’22 Adamic–Glance Distinguished Young Researcher Award Google Faculty Research Award Facebook Research Award Multiple Outstanding Paper Awards at ICWSM and WWW Advising & Grants : He advises 12 PhD students and has secured funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation , Swiss Data Science Center , and industry partners. His lab maintains collaborations with Microsoft Research and CROSS . Labs & Collaborations : West leads the Data Science Lab at EPFL, which focuses on web-scale data analysis , privacy-preserving machine learning , and AI for social good . The lab develops tools like Wikispeedia and Quotebank for public data exploration.
Yee Whye Teh is a Professor at the Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, and a research scientist at DeepMind. His work focuses on statistical machine learning, including probabilistic learning, Bayesian nonparametrics, deep learning, and Monte Carlo methods. He co-directs the ELLIS programme on Robust Machine Learning and has held roles such as Programme Co-chair for ICML 2017. Teh has delivered keynotes at UAI 2019, an IMS Medallion Lecture at JSM 2019, and the Breiman Lecture in 2017. His research emphasizes scalable inference algorithms, hierarchical models, and applications in genetics and natural language processing. Teh's educational background includes a PhD from the University of Toronto (2003) and a Master's from the same institution (2000). He has contributed to widely used software tools like the Sequence Memoizer and has been recognized for his work through prestigious lectureships. Research interests span Bayesian nonparametric models, MCMC methods, and their applications in genetics and data compression. His lab collaborates on projects like fragmentation-coagulation processes for genetic variation modeling and Mondrian forests for online learning. Teh advises students through Oxford's graduate programs, though he notes high demand for mentorship. His work often bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges in big data learning and small data problems.
Matthew Potolsky is Professor of English at the University of Utah, specializing in nineteenth-century literature and literary theory. His career spans from 1998 Lecturer at Harvard University to current University Professorship. He earned a BA in Comparative Literature and Philosophy (1990), followed by MA and PhD in Comparative Literature (1992, 1997) from UC Irvine. Chair of English Department (2013-2016) University Professor (2014-2016) Research focuses on Decadence , Mimesis , Finance-Aesthetics intersections , and Government Secrecy . His work traces connections between financialization and decadent aesthetics, revealing how economic cycles influence artistic production. Key themes include: Decadent anti-realist literary movements Finance capital's cultural impact Decadent counterpublic formations Victorian aesthetic education debates Sublime aesthetics in national security Cosmopolitanism in literary communities Recent publications analyze: Decadent style as financialization rhetoric Reintroduction of verisimilitude theory Decadent responses to financial crises Mimetic labor in artistic production Decadent cosmopolitan counterpublics Historical parallels between financialization and literary decadence
Dr. Diyi Yang is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University. She leads the Social and Language Technologies (SALT) Lab, affiliated with the Stanford NLP Group, Stanford HCI Group, Stanford AI Lab (SAIL), and Stanford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI). Her research focuses on socially aware natural language processing, large language models (LLMs), and human-AI interaction, aiming to improve human-human and human-computer communication through socially grounded AI systems. Education: Ph.D. in Language Technologies Institute, Carnegie Mellon University (2013–2019) B.S. in ACM Honored Class, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2009–2013) Research Interests: Dr. Yang’s work bridges computational social science and NLP. She explores how AI can understand social contexts in language use and develop systems that respect cultural norms, ethical standards, and human values. Her lab’s projects include AI companions for skill training (e.g., Rehearsal Dialects), norm-aware LLMs (NormBank), and frameworks for human-AI collaboration (Co-Gym). Recent efforts address bias in AI, societal impacts of LLMs, and ethical evaluation of human-AI systems. Awards & Honors: 2024: Sloan Research Fellowship, ONR Young Investigator Award 2023: Adamic-Glance Young Distinguished Award (ICWSM), Kavli Fellow (NAS) 2022: NSF CAREER Award, Microsoft Research Faculty Fellow 2020: IEEE AI’s 10 to Watch Advising & Grants: Dr. Yang advises over 10 PhD students and postdocs, co-leading projects on LLM evaluation (SWE-bench/SWE-smith), human-AI ethics, and culturally aware NLP. Her research is supported by NSF, Amazon, DARPA, Google, and Stanford’s HAI initiative. Labs & Teams: The SALT Lab collaborates across disciplines, with projects spanning computer science, linguistics, and social sciences. Current initiatives include developing AI tools for mental health support (AI Partner & Mentor) and auditing societal impacts of LLMs.
Laurel MacKenzie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at New York University (NYU), affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Science. She specializes in variationist sociolinguistics, dialectology, and language change, with a focus on English and French varieties. Her work integrates quantitative analysis of speech data to explore intra-speaker variation and language evolution. She co-directs the NYU Sociolinguistics Lab and leads the NSF-funded NYC Individual Differences Corpus project, alongside the Our Dialects initiative, an online atlas of British English dialects. Education: PhD in Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania (2012) BA in Linguistics and French, University of California, Berkeley (2006) Research Interests: Morphological and syntactic variation Regional dialects of English and French Linguistic pedagogy and public engagement Recent Projects: Recent work includes publications on participle leveling in English, sociolinguistic replication studies, and grammatical variation analysis. She has also collaborated on dialect mapping tools and consulted for media projects on language change and accents. Awards: No awards explicitly listed in provided texts. Labs/Teams: NYU Sociolinguistics Lab (Co-Director) Our Dialects Project (Academic Lead)
Joshua D. Angrist is the Ford Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has been a faculty member since 1996. He is also a co-founder and director of MIT's Blueprint Labs and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Angrist shares the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences with David Card and Guido Imbens for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships. Angrist received his B.A. from Oberlin College in 1982 and completed his Ph.D. in Economics at Princeton University in 1989. Prior to joining MIT, he taught at Harvard University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His academic journey began somewhat unconventionally, as he left high school early after 11th grade, worked for over a year, and only later discovered his passion for economics through an inspiring teacher at Oberlin. Angrist's research focuses on developing and applying innovative econometric methods to answer important economic questions using natural experiments. His work spans labor economics, education economics, and causal inference methodology. He is particularly known for his contributions to instrumental variables methods and the Local Average Treatment Effect (LATE) framework developed with Guido Imbens. His research explores the economics of education and school reform, the impact of social programs on labor markets, and the effects of immigration and regulation. His recent publications reveal a continued focus on causal inference methods applied to education policy questions, labor market issues, and health economics. The trend shows increasing sophistication in research design, with particular attention to addressing selection bias and developing methods for external validity. His work spans theoretical econometric contributions alongside empirical applications in education, labor markets, and health. Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (2021) Fama Prize for Graduate Education (2018) Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow of the Econometric Society Angrist is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring. He has developed influential econometrics textbooks including 'Mostly Harmless Econometrics' and 'Mastering Metrics' with Jörn-Steffen Pischke. At MIT, he teaches courses including Labor Economics I (14.661), Econometric Data Science (14.32), and Labor Economics and Public Policy (14.64). He emphasizes selecting UROP students who have mastered foundational economics through courses like 14.64 and 14.32. Beyond MIT, Angrist co-founded Avela, a software startup using cutting-edge research to help schools improve enrollment and operations. Angrist co-founded and directs MIT's Blueprint Labs, which brings together researchers from economics, computer science, and education to develop innovative solutions for educational challenges. Through Blueprint Labs and Avela, his work bridges academic research with practical applications in education policy and technology.
Chua Tat Seng is a Professor at the School of Computing, National University of Singapore (NUS), holding the KITHCT Chair Professorship since 2009. He serves as co-Director of the NExT++ Center, a joint research center between NUS and Tsinghua University focused on Extreme Search. His academic career spans over three decades at NUS, where he has held various leadership positions including Acting Dean of the School of Computing (1998-2000) and Acting Head of the Department of Information Systems & Computer Science (1996-1998). Professor Chua's research spans unstructured data analytics , multimedia information retrieval , recommendation and conversation systems , and emerging applications in e-commerce and fintech . He established the Lab for Media Search (LMS) at the School of Computing and has been instrumental in advancing multimodal learning and search technologies. His work bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications, particularly in developing trustable AI systems for real-world deployment. His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on large language models for recommendation systems , multimodal learning , and generative AI applications . The research trends show increasing emphasis on LLM-based recommendation, multimodal understanding, and addressing fundamental challenges in AI reliability, fairness, and efficiency. His work spans theoretical advancements in representation learning to practical applications in e-commerce, finance, and healthcare domains. ACM SIGMM Technical Achievement Award 2015 Multiple Best Paper Awards across ACM Multimedia, IEEE Transactions, and MMM conferences (2007-2020) Professor Chua has supervised 37 PhD students since 2004, establishing himself as a dedicated mentor in the academic community. His research has been supported by substantial grants including NExT++ ($12 million), Base Metals Price Forecasting ($200,000), and Multilingual Multimodal Knowledge Graph ($500,000). He maintains active collaborations with Tsinghua University, University of Southampton, and industry partners like Four Elements Capital and Singapore Press Holdings. As co-Director of the NExT++ Center, he leads a major research initiative focused on Web Intelligence and User Empowerment. His visiting professorships at Tsinghua University (2017-present) and Zhejiang University (2021-present) reflect his international impact in the field of multimedia and AI research.
