Katrina Ligett is an American computer scientist. She is a Professor of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...

at the

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

and Visiting Associate at

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

. She is known for work on

algorithmic game theory Algorithmic game theory (AGT) is an area in the intersection of game theory and computer science, with the objective of understanding and design of algorithms in strategic environments. Typically, in Algorithmic Game Theory problems, the input t ...

and

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

Education

Ligett studied at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she completed her BS degree in Mathematics and Computer Science in 2004. She then earned her MS and PhD in Computer Science from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

in 2007 and 2009, respectively. Her PhD was supervised by

Avrim Blum Avrim Blum (born 27 May 1966) is a computer scientist. In 2007, he was made a List of Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery, Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery "for contributions to learning theory and algorithms." Blu ...

.Microsoft Research Faculty Fellows 2013
/ref> She has been on the faculty of the

since 2011. Currently she is Associate Professor of Computer Science and Member of Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality at Hebrew University, as well as Visiting Associate in Computing and Mathematical Sciences at Caltech.

Research

Ligett's work has made notable contributions to two fields:

and

. For example, in the field of data privacy, her work provided a foundation for the field by proving the possibility of answering exponentially many queries about a database while maintaining privacy for individuals. In the field of algorithmic game theory, her work showed that efficiency guarantees proven for Nash equilibrium (so called

Price of Anarchy The Price of Anarchy (PoA) is a concept in economics and game theory that measures how the efficiency of a system degrades due to selfish behavior of its agents. It is a general notion that can be extended to diverse systems and notions of efficien ...

bounds) can be extended to weaker equilibria concepts.

Awards and honors

Ligett received a Microsoft Faculty Research Fellowship in 2013. In the same year, she received an NSF CAREER award and a Google Faculty Research AwardGoogle Faculty Research Award Recipients
/ref>

References

External links

Katrina Ligett professional home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligett, Katrina Living people American computer scientists American women computer scientists Brown University alumni Carnegie Mellon University alumni California Institute of Technology faculty Theoretical computer scientists Game theorists Year of birth missing (living people)