Rediet Abebe facts for kids

Rediet Abebe (born in 1991) is a brilliant computer scientist from Ethiopia. She works with algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, she is a professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. Before that, she was a special researcher at the Harvard Society of Fellows.

Rediet Abebe's work focuses on using math and computers to study fairness and how resources are shared. She helped start two important groups: Mechanism Design for Social Good (MD4SG) and Black in AI. These groups bring together experts from different fields to solve big problems.

Growing Up and Learning

Rediet Abebe was born in 1991 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and grew up there. She went to Nazareth School, following the Ethiopian National Curriculum. Later, she won a special scholarship to attend the International Community School of Addis Ababa for high school.

College and Advanced Studies

Rediet Abebe went to Harvard University. She earned a degree in mathematics and then a master's degree in applied mathematics. While at Harvard, she wrote research papers on math, physics, and public health. She also wrote articles for The Harvard Crimson newspaper, focusing on local schools.

After Harvard, she studied at the University of Cambridge in England. She completed advanced math studies and earned another master's degree in pure mathematics. Her supervisor there was Imre Leader.

Rediet Abebe then earned her doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in computer science from Cornell University. Her main advisor was Jon Kleinberg. Her Ph.D. work was very important in computer science. She won two awards for her dissertation, which is a big research paper. She is also the first Black woman to get a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University.

Her Work and Career

Rediet Abebe's research uses AI and algorithms to help make things fairer. She looks at how these computer tools can affect people, especially those who are not always treated equally.

Her interest in combining fairness studies with computer science came from her education in Ethiopia. It also came from studying public schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She learned that if computer programs are not designed carefully, they can accidentally cause harm or unfairness.

In 2019, Rediet Abebe joined a special working group for the National Institutes of Health. This group included other top AI experts. Their job was to create a report with ideas on how to use AI responsibly. Their recommendations were approved by the director of NIH.

Becoming a Professor

In 2019, Abebe became a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. She was the first female computer scientist and the first Black computer scientist to join this group.

Later, she became an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley. She teaches and researches in areas like artificial intelligence, data science, and computer theory. She is the first Black female professor in her department's history at Berkeley.

Rediet Abebe is part of several research groups at Berkeley. She also leads her own research group called BEAAMO. This group focuses on fairness and access in algorithms and computer systems.

Mechanism Design for Social Good

Rediet Abebe co-founded Mechanism Design for Social Good (MD4SG) in 2016 with Kira Goldner. This group brings together researchers from many fields. They use algorithms and a concept called "mechanism design" to fight inequality. MD4SG holds workshops every year to share new ideas. In 2021, she helped start a new conference called EAAMO, which focuses on fairness in algorithms.

Because of her work with MD4SG, Rediet Abebe was named one of the "Innovators Under 35" by MIT Technology Review in 2019. Her Ph.D. dissertation also won awards for helping to create this new area of research.

Black in AI

In 2016, Rediet Abebe also co-founded Black in AI with Timnit Gebru. This is a network of over 1,500 researchers who work on AI. The organization holds workshops and helps people connect and work together. Through Black in AI, Abebe started the Academic Program, which helps students. For this work, she was recognized in the 2019 Bloomberg 50 list as someone to watch.

Awards and Honors

Rediet Abebe has received many awards for her important work:

• 2018: Bloomberg 50, One to Watch
• 2018: Harvard-Cambridge Fellowship
• 2019: Harvard Society of Fellows, Junior Fellow
• 2019: MIT Technology Review, 35 Under 35
• 2020: ACM SIGKDD Dissertation Award
• 2020: ACM SIGecom Dissertation Award (honorable mention)
• 2020: Innovation for Equity, Rising Star Award
• 2020: 100 Most Influential Young Africans, African Youth Awards
• 2022: Class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows