ACM
has named Yael Tauman Kalai the
recipient of the 2022
ACM Prize in Computing for
breakthroughs in verifiable
delegation of computation and
fundamental contributions to
cryptography. Kalai's
contributions have helped shape
modern cryptographic practices
and provided a strong foundation
for further advancements.
Kalai
has developed methods for
producing succinct proofs that
certify the correctness of any
computation. This method enables
a weak device to offload any
computation to a stronger device
in a way that enables the
results to be efficiently
checked for correctness.
Kalai
is a Senior Principal Researcher
at Microsoft Research and an
Adjunct Professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT).
"As
data is the currency of our
digital age, the work of
cryptographers, who encrypt and
decrypt coded language, is
essential to keeping our
technological systems secure and
our data private, as
necessary," said ACM President
Yannis Ioannidis. "Kalai has not
only made astonishing
breakthroughs in the
mathematical foundations of
cryptography, but her proofs
have been practically useful in
areas such as blockchain and
cryptocurrencies. Her research
addresses complex problems whose
solution opens new directions to
where the field is
heading—focusing on keeping
small computers (such as
smartphones) secure from
potentially malicious cloud
servers. A true star all around,
she has also established herself
as a respected mentor, inspiring
and cultivating the next
generation of cryptographers."
The
ACM Prize in Computing
recognizes early-to-mid-career
computer scientists whose
research contributions have
fundamental impact and broad
implications. The award carries
a prize of $250,000, from an
endowment provided by Infosys
Ltd.
Read
the ACM news release.
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