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.
Kevin Jamieson is an Associate Professor at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Washington . His academic journey includes a B.S. (2009) , M.S. (2010) , and Ph.D. (2015) in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, Columbia University, and University of Wisconsin–Madison respectively. He completed a postdoc at UC Berkeley's AMP Lab before joining UW in 2017. Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2015) M.S., Electrical Engineering, Columbia University (2010) B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of Washington (2009) Jamieson's research lies at the intersection of interactive machine learning , active learning , and sequential decision making . His work focuses on: Adaptive sampling strategies in multi-armed bandits and reinforcement learning (RL) Developing instance-dependent optimal algorithms that adapt to problem difficulty Applications in robotics , human perception studies , and hyperparameter optimization Representation learning for large models and experimental design frameworks His 15 most recent publications (2025-2022) demonstrate expertise in bandit theory , contextual RL , and game-theoretic learning . Notable trends include sample-efficient optimization , adaptive A/B testing , and sim-to-real transfer in robotics. Jamieson has received: NSF CAREER award for foundational contributions Amazon Faculty Research award for innovation in learning systems He actively recruits graduate students and postdocs , emphasizing collaboration in areas like: Multi-agent RL and strategic actor learning Empirical process suprema and adaptive sampling theory Applications in robotics , large language model finetuning , and biomedical data analysis Jamieson leads the Washington AI Lab (WAIL) and develops open-source learning systems like the NEXT framework for real-world adaptive data collection. He serves as co-PI for the Institute for the Foundations of Data Science (IFDS) and co-organizes the Distinguished Seminar in Optimization & Data .
Luca Carlone is the Boeing Career Development Associate Professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT and a Principal Investigator at the Laboratory for Information & Decision Systems (LIDS) . He leads the SPARK Lab , focusing on developing certifiable perception algorithms for autonomous systems. PhD in Mechatronics (Polytechnic University of Turin, 2012) Research spans robotics, computer vision, and optimization Research Interests : Certifiable Perception algorithms for high-integrity systems High-level Perception (geometric, semantic, physical understanding) Efficient Perception methods for resource-constrained robots Scientific Contributions include: 2024 Outstanding Systems Paper Award (RSS) 2023 IEEE Transactions on Robotics King-Sun Fu Award 2021 NSF CAREER Award 2020 AIAA Advising Award 2019 Amazon Research Award Advising : Teaches graduate courses like Visual Navigation for Autonomous Vehicles and Robotics: Science and Systems . Collaborates with institutions including JPL, Caltech, and KAIST through the DARPA SubT Challenge.
Cheryl Gaimon holds the Esther and Edward J. Brown Chair and serves as a Regents' Professor at the Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology. She is Faculty Director of the Management of Technology (MoT) Certificate Program, which she helped establish, and teaches across all academic levels including executive education. Professor Gaimon initiated the Operations Management Program and served as its first Area Coordinator for seven years. Her academic credentials include: Ph.D. in Operations Research from Carnegie Mellon University M.S. in Industrial Administration (Operations Management) from Carnegie Mellon University B.S. in Mathematics and Economics (Magna Cum Laude) from Brooklyn College, City University of New York Professor Gaimon's research centers on managing knowledge-based resources in technology-driven environments. Her work spans Innovation and Management of Technology , Knowledge Management and Outsourcing , New Product/Process Development , Alliances for Innovation , and Sustainability Research . She examines how firms navigate technological change through strategic resource allocation, knowledge transfer, and sustainable operations, with increasing emphasis on environmental strategies in recent years. Her publication trajectory reveals consistent focus on operations management within technological evolution—from foundational work on technology acquisition and capacity planning to contemporary studies on environmental strategies and multidisciplinary technology management. Key journals featuring her research include Management Science , Operations Research , and Production and Operations Management . Major recognitions include: Regents' Professor designation (2005) by the Georgia Board of Regents The 1999 Georgia Tech Research Award for doctoral student development Brady Family Award for Faculty Research Excellence (2014) Best Department Editor Award for POM (2024) POMS Fellow status and Distinguished Service Award (2009/2014) As an educator, she has mentored doctoral students and shaped curriculum through the MoT program. Her professional leadership includes serving as POMS President (2008-2009), founding co-President of the POMS College on Product Innovation and Technology Management, and editorial roles at top journals including Management Science and Production and Operations Management . Professor Gaimon directs the interdisciplinary Management of Technology Certificate Program, fostering cross-departmental collaboration for technology management research and education while advancing sustainability integration in operations.
Adriana Kovashka is an Associate Professor at the University of Pittsburgh , affiliated with the School of Computing and Information and serving as Department Chair . Her academic journey began with BA degrees in Computer Science and Media Studies from Pomona College (2008) and a PhD in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin (2014). Joined Pitt’s faculty in January 2015 NSF CAREER awardee (2021) Google Faculty Research Award recipient Dr. Kovashka’s research spans Computer Vision , Machine Learning , and Natural Language Processing , focusing on visual rhetoric, weak multimodal supervision, and domain adaptation. She pioneered techniques for analyzing political imagery, developing robust object detection frameworks, and exploring the intersection of visual and textual persuasion through large-scale annotated datasets. Her recent work emphasizes geographic diversity in vision-language systems, audio-visual fusion for domain generalization, and shape-texture bias mitigation in CNNs. Key publications include groundbreaking studies on symbolic reasoning, multimodal dialogue systems, and ethical AI applications in education. Scientific honors include: NSF CRII Award (2016) NSF CAREER Award (2021) Pitt CRDF Award (2016, 2018) Best Paper at ECV Workshop (2021) Google Faculty Research Award (2016, 2018) Dr. Kovashka actively mentors students in multimodal learning projects and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams on NSF-funded initiatives. She co-organizes workshops like the first CVPR workshop on advertisement understanding and leads research groups exploring human-AI co-learning systems.
Dr. Hassan Qudrat-Ullah is a Professor at the School of Administrative Studies, York University, and Coordinator of the Certificate in Logistics Management. He holds a PhD in Decision Sciences from NUS Business School and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University. His research focuses on dynamic decision making, system dynamics modeling, energy planning, and interactive learning environments. He teaches courses on quantitative methods, logistics, and decision analysis, informed by global industry experience across 20+ countries. Research interests include sustainability, climate change, systems thinking, and educational applications of decision sciences. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Complexity in Applied Science and Technology and is a member of IEEE, DSI, and the International System Dynamics Society. His work has been published in Energy , Decision Support Systems , and others. Key projects include studies on 'structured-debriefing in dynamic decision making' and renewable energy policies in Africa. His recent articles (2023–2025) address AI integration in energy governance, system dynamics for supply chain resilience, and education for sustainability. Hassan advocates for systems thinking in K-12 education and enjoys traveling (visited 129 countries) and bird-watching.
Alan Ritter is an Associate Professor at the School of Interactive Computing , Georgia Institute of Technology, with additional affiliation to the Machine Learning Center . His research focuses on Natural Language Processing , particularly robust models across domains/languages with fewer labels and efficient resource use, plus data-driven dialogue agents for open-topic conversations. Research Interests : Robust NLP models, cross-lingual transfer, resource-efficient learning, dialogue systems, cultural bias measurement, and privacy-aware language models Students : Mentors Ph.D. students in Georgia Tech's ML and CS programs, including Junmo Kang, Yang Chen, and Duong Minh Le. Alumni include Fan Bai (Ph.D. 2023), Yang Chen (Ph.D. 2024), and Andrew Li (M.S. 2024). Awards : NSF CAREER Award, Amazon Research Award, ACL 2024 Best Social Impact Paper, IUI 2009 Best Student Paper. Recent Work : Studies training budget allocation between supervised and preference-based finetuning, cross-lingual information extraction, cultural bias in LLMs, and privacy risk mitigation in social media disclosures. Service : Served as Program Chair for NAACL 2025, Area Chair for multiple top-tier conferences (COLM, EMNLP, ACL, EACL, AAAI). Email : alan.ritter@cc.gatech.edu
Sean Cao serves as Associate Professor (with tenure) at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, where he is Director and Co-founder of the AI Initiative for Capital Market Research. He also holds an affiliation as professor at Harvard Business School's D 3 Institute. His academic journey began with a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Cao's research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence and capital markets, with particular expertise in how machine learning transforms financial analysis, corporate disclosure practices, and investment decision-making. His work examines the evolving relationship between human analysts and AI systems, blockchain applications in financial reporting, and the strategic adaptation of corporate communications for machine readership. He has pioneered research on the "AI divide" among investor groups and developed frameworks for human-AI collaborative stock analysis. His publication portfolio spans top journals including Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Accounting Research, and Management Science. The research demonstrates consistent thematic progression toward increasingly sophisticated AI applications in finance, with recent work exploring distributed ledger technologies for auditing, machine learning for extracting private information from disclosures, and the economics of greenwashing in ESG funds. His studies frequently combine textual analysis with traditional financial metrics to uncover novel market insights. Fama-DFA Prize from Journal of Financial Economics for best paper in capital markets and asset pricing Michael J. Brennan Award from Review of Financial Studies Deloitte Initiative for AI and Learning award for developing trustworthy AI for social equity PanAgora Asset Management's Dr. Richard A. Crowell Memorial Prize Multiple best paper awards from Midwest Finance Association, Global AI Finance Conference, and Asian Finance Association Dr. Cao has delivered over 200 invited research talks at major institutions including the Central Bank of Japan, Central Bank of Thailand, and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He serves as Guest Associate Editor for Management Science and has co-chaired Review of Financial Studies conferences on FinTech and Machine Learning. His educational initiatives include a widely adopted free AI textbook for finance and accounting that has been implemented at universities worldwide including Indiana University, UT Dallas, and University of Minnesota. As Director of the AI Initiative for Capital Market Research, Dr. Cao leads a multidisciplinary team exploring practical AI applications in finance. The initiative has secured significant funding including a $150,000 grant from GRF CPAs & Advisors. His research group maintains strong industry connections through partnerships with regulatory bodies, financial institutions, and technology companies, facilitating the translation of academic research into practical financial applications.
David Mazières is a Professor at Stanford University , affiliated with the School of Engineering and the Department of Computer Science . He serves as a software engineer at the Stellar Development Foundation . His work bridges academic research and industry applications in distributed systems and security. University: Stanford University Academic Rank: Professor Email: dm@scs.stanford.edu Research Interests: David Mazières' research focuses on distributed systems , cryptocurrencies , and computer security . Key areas include consensus protocols (e.g., Stellar ), low-latency scheduling ( Syrup , Shinjuku ), and cryptographic techniques for privacy and security ( SafetyPin , CCFI ). Key Achievements: His notable works include: TCP-ENO (RFC 8547) for secure transport protocols Stellar Consensus Protocol for decentralized finance SOSP 1999 Best Paper for 'Separating key management from file system security' Teaching Contributions: He has taught core and advanced courses at Stanford since 2005, including CS212 (Operating Systems) , CS240h (Functional Systems in Haskell) , and CS251 (Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies) . Previously taught courses at NYU (2001-2005).
Lutz Schubert is a researcher at the Institute of Computer Science , University of Cologne. He focuses on efficient distributed and parallel execution environments for heterogeneous systems, notably the MyThOS operating system in collaboration with Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus-Senftenberg. His interdisciplinary work bridges computer science and digital archaeology , addressing modeling of non-deterministic events from sparse excavation data and exploring human behavior constraints in archaeological contexts. Research Interests Design of modular, scalable operating systems for distributed systems Optimization of execution environments for heterogeneous hardware Application of complex systems modeling to digital archaeology Statistical and probabilistic methods for archaeological interpretation Autonomic resource distribution and adaptation in computing Publication Trends : His work spans operating systems , parallel computing , and digital humanities , with recent emphasis on probabilistic reasoning in archaeology and adaptive OS design for multicore architectures. Labs & Collaborations : He collaborates with Brandenburg University of Technology on MyThOS and leads research in computational archaeology as chair of Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA) , Germany.
Halil Ali is a Lecturer in Data Science (Education Focused) at the School of Computing Technologies, RMIT University. His research spans privacy-preserving machine learning, blockchain technologies, and cybersecurity. Key research areas include federated learning , quantum-enhanced AI , secure biometrics , edge unlearning , and privacy in healthcare data . His recent publications focus on resilient AI systems , blockchain applications , and ethical data handling in emerging technologies. His work demonstrates expertise in integrating machine learning with blockchain security across domains like IoT, smart grids, and metaverse healthcare. He contributes to practical frameworks for zero-trust architectures , lightweight consensus protocols , and quantum-classical hybrid models .
Jiatao Gu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science (CIS) at the University of Pennsylvania, with a part-time role as Staff Research Scientist at Apple (MLR). He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Hong Kong (2018) and a B.Eng. in Electronic Engineering from Tsinghua University (2014). His research focuses on generative machine learning and AI agent interaction with the physical world, emphasizing multi-modal systems spanning language, images, videos, and 3D. Key themes include efficient modeling , flexible architecture design , and scalable decision-making frameworks . 2025: ICLR paper on DART framework 2024: TMLR work on GFlowNet alignment 2023: NeurIPS research on diffusion stability 2022: ACL papers on speech translation Recent publications explore diffusion models for text-to-image synthesis, 3D reconstruction, and efficient sampling techniques. His work addresses fundamental challenges in attention mechanisms, entropy collapse, and multi-stage distillation while advancing non-autoregressive translation and vision-language reasoning . Prospective students can apply through his recruitment process at UPenn. Prior affiliations include Meta AI (FAIR Labs) and academic collaborations with institutions like New York University's CILVR Lab.
Celestine Mendler-Dünner is a Principal Investigator at the ELLIS Institute in Tübingen, co-affiliated with the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Tübingen AI Center. She leads the Algorithms and Society research group, focusing on machine learning in social contexts and the role of prediction in digital economies. Her work bridges theoretical machine learning with practical societal impact, developing tools for safe, reliable, and equitable AI ecosystems. Her educational background includes a PhD from ETH Zurich in collaboration with IBM Research, followed by an SNSF postdoctoral fellowship at UC Berkeley hosted by Moritz Hardt. She was previously a group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems before joining the ELLIS Institute. Mendler-Dünner's research spans several interconnected themes including performative prediction (where predictions change the behavior they aim to predict), algorithmic collective action (how participants can steer AI systems toward common goals), and the role of LLMs in social science research. Her work combines theoretical foundations with practical implementations, addressing challenges in interactive machine learning, optimization in dynamic environments, and context-specific evaluation of AI systems. She particularly examines how algorithmic predictions mediate services and platforms at societal scale, exploring concepts of economic power in digital markets. Her publication record shows a clear evolution from system-aware machine learning algorithms (including foundational work on IBM Snap ML) toward increasingly sociotechnical questions at the intersection of machine learning, economics, and policy. Recent work focuses on measuring performative power in digital economies, evaluating LLMs as risk scores, and developing frameworks for algorithmic collective action in recommender systems and labor markets. Among her notable recognitions are the ETH Medal for her dissertation, the IBM Research Division Award, the Fritz Kutter Award, and the IBM Eminence and Excellence Award. She is an ELLIS Scholar, a fellow of the Elisabeth-Schiemann-Kolleg, and affiliated with several prestigious research programs including the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems and the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. ETH Medal (dissertation award) IBM Research Division Award Fritz Kutter Award IBM Eminence and Excellence Award SNSF Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship Mendler-Dünner actively mentors the next generation of researchers, advising PhD student Patrik Wolf and supervising research interns including Joachim Baumann, Haiqing Zhu, and Anna Badalyan, as well as Master's student Dorothee Sigg. She serves as core faculty for the International Max Planck Research School and associated faculty for the Max Planck ETH Center for Learning Systems. Her group has secured significant research funding through fellowships and institutional support, enabling work on projects like Powermeter (measuring search engine influence) and Snap ML (resource-efficient machine learning library with over 1 million PyPI downloads). She leads the Algorithms and Society research group, which examines machine learning as part of broader sociotechnical ecosystems. The group explores human-population interactions with algorithmic systems and incorporates these insights into learning system fundamentals. Current projects include investigating economic incentives in digital platforms, developing tools for systematic LLM evaluation in social science contexts, and creating frameworks for collective action in algorithmic systems. Mendler-Dünner also co-organizes the Algorithmic Collective Action workshop at NeurIPS 2025, demonstrating her leadership in emerging research directions at the AI-society interface.
Marlon Dumas is a Professor of Information Systems at the University of Tartu's Faculty of Science and Technology, with a 20-year academic career spanning Estonia and Australia. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Grenoble 1, France, and has served as Head of Chair and Programme Director in Software Engineering programs. Specializes in Business Process Management (BPM) and Process Mining Current research focuses on prescriptive process monitoring, simulation modeling, and data privacy Recipient of 25+ scientific awards, including multiple Test of Time Awards and the Estonian National Research Award in Technical Sciences Editorial leadership: Area Editor for Information Systems (Elsevier) and ERC Starting Grant Panel Chair His work bridges theoretical advancements in BPM with practical applications in financial services and anti-money laundering. He has developed tools like SIMOD, Kronos, and Kairos for process optimization and analysis. His research integrates AI/ML techniques (reinforcement learning, causal inference) with traditional process modeling. Key trends in his recent publications include: Prescriptive monitoring systems combining causal inference and machine learning Privacy-preserving process mining techniques (differential privacy, anonymization) Resource availability modeling and multi-objective process optimization LLM applications for process analysis and intervention policies Scientific honors include: 2024 BPM Best Paper & Prototype Awards 2023 ICPM Best Prototype Award 2019 ERC Advanced Grantee 2017 Estonian National Research Award in Technical Sciences 2019 MODELS Test of Time Award 2017 BPM Best Prototype Award He has mentored PhD candidates as thesis examiner and contributed to 30+ conference program committees, including General Co-Chair roles at ESEC-FSE 2019 and CAiSE 2018. His work has been supported by European Research Council grants and Estonian Science Foundation projects.
Dean Eckles is an Associate Professor of Marketing at MIT Sloan School of Management and serves as an Associate Director of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS). He is also affiliated with the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing through the Institute for Data, Systems & Society and its Statistics and Data Science Center. Additionally, he leads the analytics research area at the Initiative on the Digital Economy and organizes the annual Conference on Digital Experimentation (CODE@MIT). His educational background includes a BA in philosophy, BS and MS in cognitive science, MS in statistics, and PhD in communication, all from Stanford University. Prior to joining MIT, Eckles worked as a scientist at Facebook, where he contributed to areas including News Feed, messaging, advertising, tools for randomized experiments, and survey methods. He previously held research positions at Nokia and Yahoo. Eckles's research primarily focuses on social influence mediated by interactive technologies, examining how communication technologies mediate, amplify, and direct social influence. His work spans multiple specific areas including social interactions, contagion, and interventions in networks; experimental design and inference in networks; and methods for causal inference. His research often combines social science with advanced statistical methods. His notable publications include research on long ties in social networks and their relationship to economic prosperity, how network structure affects social contagions, and algorithmic transparency in social media platforms. His work has appeared in prestigious journals including PNAS and Nature Human Behaviour, and he has provided expert testimony before the US Senate on algorithmic ranking. Long ties, disruptive life events and economic prosperity (PNAS) Long ties accelerate noisy threshold-based contagions (Nature Human Behaviour) Algorithmic transparency and assessing effects of algorithmic ranking (Senate testimony) Eckles actively shares his research through social media platforms including Bluesky, Twitter, and Mastodon, as well as through his blog and contributions to the Gelman et al. blog. His work bridges academic research with practical applications in technology and policy.
