PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Asuman Ozdaglar

Also known as Asu Ozdaglar, Asuman Özdağlar

Asuman Ozdaglar is an MIT professor whose research connects machine learning with optimization, game theory and networks. She earned her undergraduate degree at Middle East Technical University in 1996, completed her MIT doctorate in 2003 and joined MIT's EECS faculty in 2003. She coauthored distributed optimization research in 2009 and studied equilibria and training in generative adversarial networks with Farzan Farnia in 2020. She became head of MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in January 2018 and deputy dean of academics in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing in September 2019. As of October 2026, she holds both leadership roles and the MathWorks professorship, with research on multi-agent reinforcement learning and human-AI collaboration.

Works
548
Citations
31,066
h-index
71
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 27 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1996–2003

    From METU to MIT

    She earns a BS in electrical and electronics engineering at Middle East Technical University in 1996, then an SM in 1998 and a PhD in 2003 in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. In 2003, she joins MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) faculty. She also coauthors Convex Analysis and Optimization, published by Athena Scientific in 2003.

  2. 2008

    The Eckman Award

    In 2008, she receives the Donald P. Eckman Award from the American Automatic Control Council.

  3. 2009

    Distributed subgradient methods

    In 2009, she and A. Nedic publish Distributed Subgradient Methods for Multi-Agent Optimization in IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control.

  4. 2014–2016

    Directing MIT's LIDS

    From 2014 to 2016, she directs MIT's Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS).

  5. January 2018–September 2019

    EECS head and deputy dean

    In January 2018, she becomes head of MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She also becomes deputy dean of academics in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing in September 2019, while continuing as head of EECS.

  6. 2020

    Game theory for GANs

    With Farzan Farnia, she coauthors Do GANs always have Nash equilibria? at the International Conference on Machine Learning in 2020. The paper shows that some generative adversarial network games have no Nash equilibria and introduces proximal equilibrium and proximal training as approaches to these games.

  7. 2021

    IEEE Fellow

    In 2021, she becomes an IEEE Fellow for her contributions to distributed multi-agent networks.

  8. November 2025

    Selecting data for optimal decisions

    In November 2025, she is co-senior author of research with Omar Bennouna, Amine Bennouna and Saurabh Amin on the minimum data needed for optimal decisions. Their framework identifies a smallest sufficient dataset for structured decision problems under uncertainty, with applications including supply chains and electricity networks.

  9. March 2026

    A Kadir Has Award

    In March 2026, she receives the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 21st Kadir Has Awards, whose theme is Science, Technology, and Artificial Intelligence.

  10. As of October 2026

    MathWorks Professor at MIT

    As of October 2026, Ozdaglar is MIT's MathWorks Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, head of EECS and deputy dean of academics in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. Her research spans optimization, machine learning, game theory and networks, including multi-agent reinforcement learning and human-AI collaboration.

Career

  1. Since 2018Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyHead, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Deputy Dean of Academics, MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

Education

  1. 2003Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPhD in electrical engineering and computer science
  2. 1998Massachusetts Institute of TechnologySM in electrical engineering and computer science
  3. 1996Middle East Technical UniversityBS in electrical and electronics engineering

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Asuman Ozdaglar – IDSS idss.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. Asu Ozdaglar named head of Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science news.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. Four from MIT are named IEEE Fellows for 2021 news.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. Distributed Subgradient Methods for Multi-agent Optimization asu.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. LIDS History lids.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Letter regarding update on the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing news.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. Do GANs always have Nash equilibria? proceedings.mlr.press. Checked 27 October 2026.
  8. Bigger datasets aren’t always better news.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  9. Panorama KHAS - March 2026 - Kadir Has University khas.edu.tr. Checked 27 October 2026.
  10. Laboratory for Information & Decision Systems asu.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  11. Asu Ozdaglar - MIT EECS eecs.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.