Corina Pasareanu and Elaine Shi named 2023 ACM Fellows

ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, has recognized CyLab faculty members Corina Pasareanu and Elaine Shi as 2023 ACM Fellows for their transformative contributions to computing science and technology.

“The announcement each year that a new class of ACM Fellows has been selected is met with great excitement,” said ACM president Yannis Ioannidis. “ACM is proud to include nearly 110,000 computing professionals in our ranks and ACM Fellows represent just 1% of our entire global membership. This year’s inductees include the inventor of the World Wide Web, the ‘godfathers of AI,’ and other colleagues whose contributions have all been important building blocks in forming the digital society that shapes our modern world.”

Pasareanu is the principal systems scientist for CyLab and Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), as well as an ACM Distinguished Scientist working at NASA Ames. Her research interests include model checking, symbolic execution, compositional verification, probabilistic software analysis, autonomy, and security.

ACM recognized Pasareanu as a Fellow for her contributions to the development and application of symbolic execution and compositional verification.

“I'm interested in formal methods, techniques, mathematical proofs, or mathematical methods for showing that software systems are safe and secure,” said Pasareanu. “This is the most important award I have received, because it's not just for a particular paper but for all of my scientific activity in these areas.

“ACM is a prestigious organization in our field, and I am very honored.”

Shi is an associate professor in Carnegie Mellon’s Computer Science Department (CSD) and ECE, as well as co-director of CMU’s Secure Blockchain Initiative (SBI). Her research interests include cryptography, game theory, algorithms, and foundations & blockchains.

In November, at its annual Special Interest Group on Security, Audit and Control’s (SIGSAC’s) Conference on Computer and Communications Security (ACM CCS), ACM honored Shi’s co-authored paper “Path ORAM: An Extremely Simple Oblivious RAM Protocol” with the conference’s Test-of-Time Award.

ACM recognized Shi as a Fellow for her contributions to the scientific foundation of oblivious computation and decentralized blockchains.

“In the past 20 years, there has been tremendous progress at making theoretical/cryptography techniques practical and getting them deployed in the real world,” said Shi. “I think this is an exciting space to work in, and it's a space with lots of momentum where state-of-the-art research results can be shipped to real-world deployment quickly.

“It's also a space with both theoretical and practical challenges, and being able to bridge the two worlds is a great way for our research to make an impact in the real world. I would like to thank those who nominated me and supported me over the years, as well as thank the Fellows committee.”

ACM Fellows represent just 1% of our entire global membership.

Yannis Ioannidis, President, The Association for Computing Machinery

Pasareanu and Shi are two of five Carnegie Mellon faculty members that have been recognized as 2023 ACM Fellows. All 68 the 2023 inductees are longstanding, global ACM Members who were selected by their peers for groundbreaking innovations that have improved how we live, work, and play.

Maria Florina Balcan is the Cadence Design Systems Professor of Computer Science in the Machine Learning Department and CD. Her main research interests are in machine learning, artificial intelligence, algorithmic game theory and theoretical computer science. ACM recognized Balcan as a Fellow for her contributions to the foundations of machine learning and its applications to algorithmic economics and algorithm design.

Roger B. Dannenberg is a professor emeritus in CSD. His research interests span computer music, real-time and multimedia systems, and computer-based instruction. The ACM recognized Dannenberg as a Fellow for his contributions to the field of computer science through innovative computer music systems.

Ken Koedinger is the Hillman Professor of Computer Science in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute. His research focuses on understanding human learning and creating educational technologies that increase student achievement. The ACM recognized Koedinger as a Fellow for his advancement of AI models of human learning and developing intelligent tutors to aid students.

For more on this year's ACM fellows, visit the association's website.