PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Frank McSherry

Also known as frankmcsherry

Frank McSherry is chief scientist at Materialize, a streaming database company he founded in 2019. His research on differential privacy includes a 2006 paper he co-wrote with Cynthia Dwork, which adds random noise to query answers to protect privacy. Working with Ilya Mironov in 2009, he adapted the leading Netflix Prize algorithms to differential privacy, bringing privacy protection to recommender systems. The 2017 Gödel Prize went to him, Cynthia Dwork, Kobbi Nissim and Adam Smith for their paper on private data analysis. Before Materialize, he spent 12 years at Microsoft Research’s Silicon Valley lab, which closed in 2014.

Timeline

  1. 2006

    Calibrating noise to sensitivity

    With Cynthia Dwork, he co-writes 'Calibrating Noise to Sensitivity in Private Data Analysis,' a TCC 2006 paper that adds random noise to query answers to protect privacy.

  2. 2009

    Privacy for Netflix Prize algorithms

    In June 2009, he and Ilya Mironov publish 'Differentially Private Recommender Systems,' which adapts the leading Netflix Prize algorithms to differential privacy.

  3. By 2014

    Twelve years at Microsoft Research

    A research scientist for 12 years, he works at Microsoft Research's Silicon Valley lab, which closes in 2014.

  4. 2016

    A visiting scientist at ETH Zurich

    In 2016 he is a visiting scientist at ETH Zurich, where he works with the Systems Group.

  5. 2017

    Sharing the Gödel Prize

    Cynthia Dwork, Kobbi Nissim and Adam Smith share the 2017 Gödel Prize with him for their paper on private data analysis.

  6. 2019

    Founding Materialize

    In 2019, he founds Materialize, a startup for streaming databases.

  7. As of October 2026

    Chief scientist at Materialize

    As chief scientist at Materialize, he and others convert SQL into scale-out, streaming, and interactive dataflows.

Sources and credits

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  1. Calibrating Noise to Sensitivity in Private Data Analysis - Microsoft Research microsoft.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Differentially Private Recommender Systems: Building Privacy into the Netflix Prize Contenders - Microsoft Research microsoft.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Allen School alum Frank McSherry wins Gödel Prize in Theoretical Computer Science news.cs.washington.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. FOSDEM 2016 - Frank McSherry archive.fosdem.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. 2017 Gödel Prize eatcs.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Frank McSherry - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. Frank McSherry — AI Council aicouncil.com. Checked 15 October 2026.