PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Karen Livescu

Karen Livescu is a professor at TTI-Chicago, where their research covers speech and language processing. They studied physics at Princeton before completing an MIT doctorate in 2005 on feature-based pronunciation modeling for automatic speech recognition. The International Speech Communication Association made them a Fellow in 2021 for articulatory modeling, and in 2025 the IEEE named them a Fellow for multi-view and pre-trained speech representation learning. A 2022 EMNLP paper introduced OpenASL, a large-scale American Sign Language to English dataset collected from online video. In 2023 they received an ICML Test of Time runner-up award alongside Raman Arora, Galen Andrew and Jeff Bilmes.

Timeline

  1. 1996–2005

    Physics at Princeton, then MIT

    They earn a physics degree from Princeton in 1996 and complete an MIT doctorate in 2005 on feature-based pronunciation modeling for automatic speech recognition.

  2. 2005–2008

    Postdoc at MIT, then TTIC

    They work as a post-doctoral lecturer in the electrical engineering and computer science department at MIT from 2005 to 2007. In 2008 they hold a research assistant professor post at TTI-Chicago.

  3. 2021

    ISCA Fellow for speech research

    In 2021 the International Speech Communication Association names them a Fellow for contributions to articulatory modeling and speech representation learning.

  4. 2021–2022

    IEEE Distinguished Lecturer

    The IEEE Signal Processing Society lists them among its 2021 Distinguished Lecturers, a term running to 2022.

  5. 2022

    The OpenASL translation dataset

    A paper at EMNLP 2022, co-written by them, introduces OpenASL, a large-scale American Sign Language to English dataset collected from online video.

  6. 2023

    A Test of Time runner-up award

    Alongside Raman Arora, Galen Andrew and Jeff Bilmes, they receive an ICML 2023 Test of Time runner-up award.

  7. 2025

    Named an IEEE Fellow

    In 2025 the IEEE names them a Fellow for contributions to multi-view and pre-trained speech representation learning.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at TTI-Chicago

    At TTI-Chicago they hold a professor post, where their research covers speech and language processing.

Sources and credits

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

  1. Karen Livescu - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. TTIC Dr. Karen Livescu ttic.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Karen Livescu home.ttic.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. ISCA - ISCA Fellow Program isca-speech.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. SPS Announces 2021 Class of Distinguished Lecturers and Distinguished Industry Speakers | IEEE Signal Processing Society signalprocessingsociety.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. Open-Domain Sign Language Translation Learned from Online Video - ACL Anthology aclanthology.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. Speech and Language @ TTIC: News slattic.ttic.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  8. 56 SPS Members Elevated to Fellow! | IEEE Signal Processing Society signalprocessingsociety.org. Checked 14 October 2026.