PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Allison Koenecke

Allison Koenecke is an information science researcher whose work applies machine learning and causal inference to questions of algorithmic fairness. She graduated from MIT in 2014, took part in the inaugural Math Prize for Girls, completed a PhD at Stanford, and joined Cornell Information Science after a postdoc at Microsoft Research. Her 2020 study found that five speech recognition systems had an average word error rate of 0.35 for Black speakers and 0.19 for white speakers. Forbes named her to its 30 Under 30 Science list in 2022; in 2025, she coauthored a Nature article on equitable speech translation, won a Sloan Research Fellowship, and joined Cornell Tech. In 2026, she coauthored an article on stakeholder-driven speech audits and received a Cornell Tech teaching award; she is an assistant professor at Cornell Tech.

Links
Website, Google Scholar and LinkedIn

Timeline

  1. 2014

    MIT and Math Prize for Girls

    She graduates from MIT in 2014 with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics with Computer Science and takes part in the inaugural Math Prize for Girls.

  2. 2020

    Speech recognition disparities

    In 2020, she coauthors a study of five speech recognition systems that finds an average word error rate of 0.35 for Black speakers and 0.19 for white speakers.

  3. By 2022

    Stanford PhD and fairness research

    By 2022, she holds a PhD from Stanford's Institute for Computational & Mathematical Engineering. Her research on algorithmic fairness applies machine learning and causal inference to study inequities across online services and public health.

  4. 2022

    Postdoc to Cornell

    She works as a postdoc in Microsoft Research's Machine Learning and Statistics group and joins Cornell Information Science as an assistant professor in summer 2022.

  5. 2022

    Forbes 30 Under 30

    In 2022, Forbes selects her for its 30 Under 30 list in Science.

  6. 2025

    Speech translation and a Sloan fellowship

    In January 2025, she coauthors a Nature article on open-source and equitable speech-to-speech translation. In February 2025, she wins a Sloan Research Fellowship to focus on bias in speech-to-text systems. By October 2025, she is an assistant professor of information science at Cornell Tech.

  7. 2026

    AI audits and a teaching award

    In March 2026, she coauthors a Nature Machine Intelligence article that argues for stakeholder-driven audits of automatic speech recognition. In 2026, she receives a Cornell Tech Faculty Teaching award.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Cornell Tech

    As of October 2026, she is an assistant professor of information science at Cornell Tech and a field faculty member in Computer Science.

Career

  1. Since 2022Cornell UniversityAssistant Professor, Assistant Professor of Information Science; Field Faculty Member in Computer Science
  2. Microsoft ResearchPostdoctoral researcher

Education

  1. 2014Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyBachelor's degree in Mathematics with Computer Science
  2. Stanford UniversityPhD

From the biography.

  1. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Allison Koenecke. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.
  2. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Cornell University. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Cornell University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  4. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Cornell University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Allison Koenecke yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Math enthusiasts take aim at STEM glass ceiling oge.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Computational Math in Industry and Beyond (CME 500) - Winter icme.stanford.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Automated speech recognition and racial bias | EurekAlert! eurekalert.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Cornell Tech - Allison Koenecke tech.cornell.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Koenecke and Garg selected for Forbes 30 Under 30: Science bowers.cornell.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Striving for open-source and equitable speech-to-speech translation nature.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Two early-career faculty win 2025 Sloan Research awards news.cornell.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Allison Koenecke Is Making AI Work for Everyone tech.cornell.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. The case for stakeholder-driven AI auditing in automatic speech recognition nature.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Allison Koenecke koenecke.infosci.cornell.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.