Yael Tauman Kalai
Yael Tauman Kalai | |
|---|---|
יעל טאומן קלעי | |
 | |
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BSc) Weizmann Institute (MS) MIT (PhD) |
| Known for | Ring signatures Insecurity of the Fiat–Shamir heuristic Delegating computation |
| Relatives | Yair Tauman (father) |
| Awards |
|
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cryptography Theoretical computer science |
| Institutions | Microsoft Research MIT |
| Doctoral advisor | Shafi Goldwasser |
| Doctoral students | Elette Boyle |
Yael Tauman Kalai (Hebrew: יעל טאומן קלעי) is a cryptographer and theoretical computer scientist and the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor at MIT in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.[1] Previously, she worked as a Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research New England[2][3].
Education and career
[edit]Kalai graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1997. She earned a master's degree in 2001 at the Weizmann Institute of Science, working with Adi Shamir, and then completed a PhD advised by Shafi Goldwasser at MIT in 2006. After postdoctoral study at Microsoft Research and the Weizmann Institute, she became a faculty member at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She took a permanent position at Microsoft Research in 2008[2][3] and became a professor at MIT in 2024.[4] She serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing.[5]
Contributions
[edit]Kalai is known for co-inventing ring signatures, which have become a key component of numerous systems such as Cryptonote and Monero (cryptocurrency).[6][7] Subsequently, together with her advisor Shafi Goldwasser, she demonstrated an insecurity in the widely used Fiat–Shamir heuristic.[8][7] Her work on delegating computation has applications to cloud computing.[9]
Recognition
[edit]Kalai was elected a Fellow of the International Association for Cryptologic Research in 2022 for foundational contributions in delegated computation and leakage-resilient cryptography, and service to the cryptographic community.[7]
Kalai was an invited speaker on mathematical aspects of computer science at the 2018 International Congress of Mathematicians.[10]
Her master's thesis introducing ring signatures won an outstanding master's thesis award[3] and her MIT PhD dissertation was awarded the George M. Sprowls Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis in Computer Science.[3][11]
She was co-chair of the Theory of Cryptography Conference in 2017.[12]
She was awarded the 2022 ACM Prize in Computing "for breakthroughs in verifiable delegation of computation and fundamental contributions to cryptography".[13]
Personal
[edit]Kalai is the daughter of game theorist Yair Tauman.[14] Her husband, Adam Tauman Kalai, works at OpenAI.[15][16]
References
[edit]- ^ Yael Kalai, MIT CSAIL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, October 23, 2024
- ^ a b Yael Tauman Kalai, Principal Researcher, Microsoft, retrieved 2018-09-11
- ^ a b c d Yael Kalai, Researcher, Microsoft Research New England, Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, 22 October 2014
- ^ Goodale, Zach (2024-05-23). "School of Engineering welcomes new faculty". MIT News.
- ^ Scientific Advisory Board, Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, retrieved April 18, 2026
- ^ Rivest, Ronald L.; Shamir, Adi; Tauman, Yael (2001), How to Leak a Secret (PDF), Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 2248, pp. 552–565, doi:10.1007/3-540-45682-1_32
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|book-title=ignored (help) - ^ a b c Gordon, Rachel (June 27, 2022), Kalai named 2022 IACR Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, retrieved April 18, 2026
- ^ Goldwasser, Shafi; Kalai, Yael Tauman (2003), On the (In)security of the Fiat-Shamir Paradigm (PDF), pp. 102–113, doi:10.1109/SFCS.2003.1238185
{{citation}}: Unknown parameter|conference=ignored (help) - ^ Hardesty, Larry (June 10, 2013), "Securing the cloud: New algorithm solves major problem with homomorphic encryption", MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, retrieved 2018-09-11 – via Phys.org
- ^ "Invited section lectures", ICM 2018, archived from the original on 2018-12-08, retrieved 2018-08-08
- ^ "Awards and Honors 2007", EECS Newsletter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Fall 2007, archived from the original on March 27, 2020, retrieved Sep 10, 2018
- ^ Theory of Cryptography: Proceedings of the 15th International Conference, TCC 2017, Baltimore, MD, USA, November 12-15, 2017, Springer, retrieved 2018-09-11
- ^ ACM Prize in Computing Recognizes Yael Tauman Kalai for Fundamental Contributions to Cryptography, Association for Computing Machinery, retrieved April 13, 2023
- ^ Parshall, Allison (July 27, 2023), "The Cryptographer Who Ensures We Can Trust Our Computers", Quanta Magazine
- ^ Knies, Rob (May 14, 2009), "New England Researcher Finds Her Bliss", Microsoft Research Blog
- ^ "Adam Tauman Kalai", Adam Kalai, retrieved April 18, 2026
External links
[edit]- Yael Tauman Kalai publications indexed by Google Scholar
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
- Living people
- American cryptographers
- American computer scientists
- Israeli cryptographers
- Israeli computer scientists
- American women computer scientists
- Theoretical computer scientists
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
- Weizmann Institute of Science alumni
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty
- Georgia Tech faculty
- American women academics
- 21st-century American women
- American women cryptographers
- Microsoft Research people
- Israeli women computer scientists
- Recipients of the ACM Prize in Computing
- International Association for Cryptologic Research fellows