Shafi Goldwasser
Born 1959 · Age 66
Israeli–American computer scientist; RSA Professor at MIT, professor at Weizmann Institute, Turing Award laureate (2012); pioneering contributions to cryptography, complexity theory, and zero-knowledge proofs.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in New York City
Shafrira (Shafi) Goldwasser was born in New York City to Israeli parents.
Family returns to Israel; attends grade school in Tel Aviv (approx.)
Her family moved back to Israel; Goldwasser attended grade school in Tel Aviv (year estimated from biographical narrative).
High school (interests in math, physics, literature)
In high school in Israel, Goldwasser was especially interested in physics, mathematics, and literature (year estimated based on subsequent B.S. date).
Worked on CM* multiprocessor project at Carnegie Mellon
Participated in CM* (a 50-processor multiprocessor system) while an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon.
Summer internship at RAND Corporation (Los Angeles)
Took a summer internship at RAND in Los Angeles during her undergraduate years.
B.S. in Mathematics and Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a B.S. in mathematics and science.
Enrolled in graduate program, UC Berkeley (Computer Science)
Began graduate studies in computer science at UC Berkeley (leading to M.S. and Ph.D.).
M.S. in Computer Science, UC Berkeley
Earned a Master of Science in Computer Science from UC Berkeley.
Co-authored 'Probabilistic Encryption' with Silvio Micali
Published the influential 'Probabilistic Encryption' paper (turning encryption into a rigorous science); early formalization of semantic security and Goldwasser–Micali innovations.
Bantrel Postdoctoral Fellowship, MIT
Arrived at MIT as a Bantrel postdoctoral fellow, beginning her long-term MIT affiliation.
Joined MIT faculty (Assistant Professor)
Became an assistant professor in MIT's EECS/CS program (ACM/biography records assistant professorship from 1983).
Ph.D. in Computer Science, UC Berkeley
Completed Ph.D. under Manuel Blum; thesis and early work set foundations for modern cryptography.
Blum–Goldwasser cryptosystem (work published around this period)
Co-invented the Blum–Goldwasser probabilistic public-key encryption scheme (date cited in biographical narrative as mid-1980s).
Published seminal zero-knowledge interactive proofs with Silvio Micali
Authored the influential zero-knowledge proofs paper, introducing the notion of proofs that reveal no extra information (basis for first Gödel Prize).
Promoted to Associate Professor, MIT
Promoted to associate professor in MIT's EECS department (ACM records 1987-1992 associate professor).
NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (start)
Received the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (award period listed 1987–1992).
NSF Award for Women in Science (start)
Received the NSF Award for Women in Science (award period listed 1991–1996).
Promoted to Full Professor, MIT (Professor of EECS)
Appointed Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT (ACM lists professorship starting 1992).
Appointed Professor at Weizmann Institute (concurrent)
Became professor of computer science and applied mathematics at the Weizmann Institute while retaining MIT position.
Gödel Prize (first) for 'The knowledge complexity of interactive proof systems'
Co-recipient of the 1993 Gödel Prize for foundational work on interactive proofs and knowledge complexity (zero-knowledge).
Co-Leader, Cryptography & Information Security Group at MIT CSAIL
Named co-leader of MIT's Cryptography and Information Security Group (group leadership noted from 1995 onward).
ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award
Recipient of the ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award for outstanding young computer professional of the year.
Named RSA Professor of EECS at MIT
Appointed the first holder of the RSA Professorship in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT.
RSA Award in Mathematics
Received the RSA Award in Mathematics for outstanding mathematical contributions to cryptography.
Weizmann Institute Levenson Prize in Mathematics
Awarded the Levenson Prize in Mathematics by the Weizmann Institute.
Gödel Prize (second) for PCP and hardness of approximation work
Co-recipient of a second Gödel Prize in 2001 for work on interactive proofs / PCPs and hardness of approximation.
Elected Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences (NAS)
Elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
Elected Member, National Academy of Engineering (NAE)
Elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Distinguished Alumnus Award, UC Berkeley
Received Distinguished Alumnus Award in Computer Science and Engineering from UC Berkeley.
Named IACR Fellow (per Berkeley record)
Became a Fellow of the International Association for Cryptologic Research (IACR) — Berkeley lists 2007; other sources vary.
Athena Lecturer Award, ACM-W
Received the ACM Athena Lecturer Award (Association for Computing Machinery's Committee on Women in Computing).
Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science
Awarded The Franklin Institute's Benjamin Franklin Medal for contributions to foundations of modern cryptography.
IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award
Received the IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award honoring contributions to information processing.
ACM A.M. Turing Award (co-recipient with Silvio Micali)
Awarded the A.M. Turing Award for laying complexity-theoretic foundations of modern cryptography and pioneering verification methods for proofs.
Simons Foundation Investigator Award
Named a Simons Foundation Investigator (recognition/funding for research excellence).
Research: work on functional encryption and token-based obfuscation (approx.)
Continued influential research in functional encryption, token-based obfuscation and related cryptographic paradigms (papers with Tauman Kalai, Vaikuntanathan, Popa, Zeldovich); year estimated as early-to-mid 2010s.
Co-founded Duality Technologies; became Chief Scientist
Co-founded Duality Technologies, a company applying cryptography (including secure computation) to data analytics/privacy; serves as chief scientist.
Elected ACM Fellow; Frontiers of Knowledge Award in ICT
Named an ACM Fellow and received the Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Information & Communication Technologies.
Named Director, Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing (UC Berkeley)
Appointed director of UC Berkeley's Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing (served as director; sources indicate appointment in 2018).
L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award
Received the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award (listed on Berkeley page and Simons/CV records).
FOCS and STOC Test-of-Time Awards (2021)
Received Test-of-Time awards at FOCS and STOC recognizing longstanding influential papers in theoretical computer science.
Ongoing roles: RSA Professor at MIT; Professor at Weizmann
Continues as RSA Professor of EECS at MIT and Professor of Mathematical Sciences at the Weizmann Institute; member of MIT Theory of Computation group.
Continued leadership and research in cryptography and delegated computation
Active in research areas: cryptography (zero-knowledge, functional encryption), complexity theory, secure delegation, and private computation; continues advisory/co-founder role at Duality.
Household note: married to Nir Shavit, shared academic distinction
Married to Nir Shavit (also a Gödel Prize winner); household has multiple Gödel Prize honors—personal detail that shaped joint career and transnational appointments (date of marriage not specified).
Key Achievement Ages
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