PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Bryan Wilder

Bryan Wilder is a computer scientist who develops machine learning methods for decisions in public health and social services. He studied computer science at the University of Central Florida and pursued doctoral research with Milind Tambe at USC and Harvard, completing his Harvard PhD in 2021. His work included algorithms to select peer leaders for HIV prevention, methods that train predictive models to improve decisions, and research with Pim Welle on allocating public services while measuring their effects. He joined Carnegie Mellon's Machine Learning Department in 2022 and helped lead the Delphi Research Group's CDC-funded work on disease outbreaks in 2023. As of October 2026, he is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon, directs its Lab for AI and Social Impact, and chairs EAAMO's board of directors.

Now at
Carnegie Mellon University and Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization

Timeline

  1. 2013–2015

    Santa Fe and UCF

    He takes part in the Santa Fe Institute's undergraduate research program in 2013. In 2015, he completes his bachelor's degree in computer science at the University of Central Florida, with an honors thesis, Sparsification of Social Networks Using Random Walks, advised by Gita Sukthankar in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

  2. By 2018

    Doctoral research at USC

    By 2018, he is a doctoral student in USC's Department of Computer Science, working with Milind Tambe. His EQUATOR algorithm selects peer leaders for HIV prevention under uncertainty about social influence. His ARISEN algorithm samples social networks to identify communities and select peer leaders with limited survey data.

  3. 2019

    Decision-focused learning at AAAI

    With Bistra Dilkina and Milind Tambe, he publishes Melding the Data-Decisions Pipeline: Decision-Focused Learning for Combinatorial Optimization at AAAI in 2019. The work trains predictive models together with optimization algorithms so that training directly targets the quality of the resulting decisions.

  4. 2020

    HIV prevention at Harvard

    In 2020, he works in Milind Tambe's lab at Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences on algorithms that help social workers choose peer leaders for HIV prevention among youth experiencing homelessness. He also works on machine learning tools to identify tuberculosis patients in India at risk of missing medication.

  5. 2021

    Harvard doctorate and Schmidt fellowship

    He completes his computer science PhD at Harvard University in 2021 and becomes a Schmidt Science Fellow. His postdoctoral work in the Chan Lab at Harvard School of Public Health uses administrative and cohort data to study health disparities and possible interventions.

  6. 2022

    Joining Carnegie Mellon

    He joins Carnegie Mellon's Machine Learning Department as an assistant professor in 2022. His research connects machine learning and optimization with public health and social impact.

  7. 2022

    An AI2050 fellowship

    In 2022, he becomes an AI2050 Early Career Fellow. His fellowship project aims to use real-time data to track health disparities and address biases in healthcare risk prediction models.

  8. September 2023

    Delphi disease outbreak research

    In September 2023, he serves as a co-principal investigator in Carnegie Mellon's Delphi Research Group as the CDC selects the group for a Center for Innovation in Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling. The center receives a five-year, $17.5 million award to improve the use of data during public health emergencies.

  9. 2024–2025

    Learning treatment effects

    With Pim Welle, he coauthors Learning treatment effects while treating those in need, posted as a preprint in 2024 and published at ACM EC in 2025. The work designs randomized allocation rules that balance serving people with the greatest need and estimating treatment effects, and evaluates them with data from Allegheny County's human services department in Pennsylvania.

  10. As of October 2026

    The social impact lab

    As of October 2026, he is an assistant professor in Carnegie Mellon's Machine Learning Department and directs the Lab for AI and Social Impact. His work covers safe and trustworthy AI and the deployment and evaluation of AI in social, policy, and healthcare settings. He also chairs EAAMO's board of directors.

Career

  1. Since 2022Carnegie Mellon UniversityAssistant Professor
  2. NowCarnegie Mellon UniversityDirector, Lab for AI and Social Impact
  3. NowEquity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and OptimizationChair of the Board of Directors
  4. 2013Santa Fe InstituteUndergraduate researcher
  5. Harvard UniversityResearcher, Milind Tambe's lab
  6. Harvard UniversityPostdoctoral Schmidt Science Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health (Chan Lab)
  7. Carnegie Mellon UniversityCo-principal investigator, Delphi Research Group

Education

  1. 2021Harvard UniversityPhD in computer science
  2. 2015University of Central FloridaBachelor's degree in computer science
  3. University of Southern CaliforniaDoctoral student in computer science

From the biography.

Checked career sources: schmidtsciencefellows.org, bryanwilder.github.io.

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 Bryan Wilder yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. SFI Summer programs: back in full swing santafe.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. Sparsification of Social Networks Using Random Walks stars.library.ucf.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. Bryan Wilder: Algorithmic Social Interventions cais.usc.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. Melding the Data-Decisions Pipeline: Decision-Focused Learning for Combinatorial Optimization ojs.aaai.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. Grad student profile: Bryan Wilder seas.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Wilder named Schmidt Science Fellow seas.harvard.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. Bryan Wilder • Schmidt Science Fellows schmidtsciencefellows.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  8. Recent Faculty Hires / 2022 - SCS Business Office - SCS Computing Facilities scsdean.cs.cmu.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  9. Bryan Wilder - AI2050 ai2050.schmidtsciences.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  10. CDC Selects Delphi Research Group at CMU as Center for Innovation in Outbreak Analytics and Disease Modeling cmu.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  11. Learning treatment effects while treating those in need arxiv.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  12. About me - Bryan Wilder bryanwilder.github.io. Checked 27 October 2026.