David J. Wu, an assistant professor of computer science, is one of six faculty members from the University of Texas at Austin to receive a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This achievement positions UT Austin as a leading public university with multiple winners this year.
The Sloan Foundation selects fellows each year based on their creativity, independent research, and potential to become future leaders in their fields. Since its inception 70 years ago, the fellowship has established itself as one of the most prestigious awards available to early-career researchers.
Wu’s research focuses on theoretical and applied cryptography, building privacy-preserving systems and securing cloud computations. His work develops new cryptographic protocols that enable secure computations over encrypted data, allowing users to both perform operations without exposing sensitive information as well as verify the correctness and authenticity of outsourced computations.
Along with Wu, the recipients of UT's Sloan Fellowship include Edoardo Baldini, an assistant professor of physics; Linran Fan, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering; Joe Kileel and Maggie Miller, both assistant professors of mathematics; and Xue-Xin Wei, an assistant professor of neuroscience.
“These outstanding faculty members are leading some of the most exciting early-career research projects anywhere on the continent, and we are incredibly proud to call them Longhorns,” said Rachel Mersey, executive vice president and provost. “Receiving a Sloan Research Fellowship is a testament to both their individual excellence and the colleges, schools and departments that helped bring such promising talent to our campus and community.”
Past fellows have gone on to receive major accolades, including Nobel Prizes and National Medals of Science. This year’s cohort includes 126 scholars from 51 institutions across the United States and Canada, selected from among more than 1,000 nominated individuals.
“These extraordinary scholars are already making significant contributions, and we are confident they will shape the future of their fields in remarkable ways,” said Adam F. Falk, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
The Sloan Research Fellowship provides recipients with a two-year, $75,000 grant to support their research. Among the more than 1,000 researchers nominated for fellowships were chemists, computer scientists, Earth system scientists, economists, mathematicians, neuroscientists and physicists. Independent panels of senior scholars select Sloan Research Fellows based on their research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in their field.
UT had the highest number of Sloan Fellows among public institutions this year. Including this year’s winners, 107 faculty from UT Austin have received a Sloan Research Fellowship since the awards began in 1955.