The Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Economics and Computation (SIGecom) has awarded Robert Kleinberg its first SIGecom Mid-Career Award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of economics and computation.
"I am honored to receive this award and to know that my contributions are appreciated and recognized by my colleagues," said Kleinberg, professor of computer science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. “The award is a testament to the mentoring and high-quality research collaborations that have sustained me throughout my career, for which I’m deeply grateful.”
The award will be given annually to faculty or industry researchers whose work has had a significant impact in the field and who received a Ph.D. within the last 18 years. The recipients must also have a record of serving their community, such as by organizing workshops, tutorials, and diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Kleinberg shares the award with Michal Feldman, professor of computer science at the Blavatnik School of Computer Science at Tel-Aviv University. After receiving an overabundance of excellent nominations for the inaugural award, the committee decided to recognize two recipients.
On July 12, Kleinberg and Feldman will each present a keynote speech at the ACM Conference on Economics and Computation detailing their contributions to the field.
Kleinberg's research centers around algorithms and theoretical computer science, with a focus on economic aspects of algorithms, sequential learning and decision-making, and algorithmic issues in computer networking.
In addition to this award, Kleinberg was named an ACM Fellow in 2021 and received the SIGCOMM Networking Systems Award in 2018 and an NSF CAREER Award in 2007. He has also received multiple teaching awards, including the Cornell College of Engineering Teaching Award, the Merrill Presidential Teacher Award, the Tau Beta Pi Professor of the Year Award, and the Kenneth A. Goldman ’71 Excellence in Teaching Award.
He received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. As a proud graduate of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, Kleinberg rejoined the university as a faculty member in 2007 and has been educating Cornell students about algorithms ever since.
By Patricia Waldron, a writer for the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science.