PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Andrew Yao

Also known as A C Yao, A. C. -C. Yao, A. C. Yao, A. C.-C. Yao, A. Chi-Chih Yao, Andrew Chi-Chih Yao

Andrew Yao is a theoretical computer scientist whose career now includes leadership at research institutions focused on AI, information security and quantum computing. He introduced Yao’s minimax principle and communication complexity, and his research also covered secure-computation protocols and quantum circuit complexity. After faculty posts at MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley and Princeton, he joined Tsinghua in 2004 to found its Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences. He received the 2000 Turing Award and 2021 Kyoto Prize, became dean of Tsinghua’s College of AI in April 2024, and leads Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute.

Now at
Tsinghua University and Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute
Works
205
Citations
29,078
h-index
50

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.

Photo of Andrew Yao

Timeline

  1. 1946–1975

    From physics to computing

    Born in Shanghai and raised in Taiwan, Yao earned a physics bachelor’s degree at Taiwan University, a physics doctorate at Harvard in 1972, and a computer-science doctorate at Illinois in 1975.

  2. 1975–1981

    Randomness and communication

    He joined MIT’s mathematics department in 1975, then taught at Stanford from 1976 to 1981. His 1977 minimax principle gave a way to analyze randomized algorithms, and his 1979 work introduced communication complexity.

  3. 1981–2004

    Princeton and the theory of computation

    After professorships at UC Berkeley and Stanford, he joined Princeton in 1986 and stayed until 2004. His papers included “Protocols for Secure Computations” (1982) and “Quantum Circuit Complexity” (1993). The 1996 Knuth Prize recognized his computational-complexity research, and the 2000 Turing Award cited pseudorandom number generation, cryptography and communication complexity.

  4. 2004–2011

    Building at Tsinghua

    He left Princeton and joined Tsinghua in 2004 to found the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences. He became its dean in 2011.

  5. 2021

    A Kyoto Prize

    The Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology recognized Yao in 2021 for his theoretical work on computation and communication.

  6. Since April 2024

    A college for AI

    He became dean of Tsinghua University’s College of AI in April 2024.

  7. As of October 2026

    An institute for AI research

    He leads Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, whose basic-science mission focuses on AI, information security and quantum computing.

Sources and credits

Photo: Schmid, Renate, via Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 2.0. Source: commons.wikimedia.org. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.

  1. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao | Kyoto Prize kyotoprize.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. About Yao Class-Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences (IIIS) iiis.tsinghua.edu.cn. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao-Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences (IIIS) iiis.tsinghua.edu.cn. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Turing Awardees - Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation nsf.gov. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Introduction — Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute sqz.ac.cn. Checked 14 October 2026.