Michael Kearns
Michael Kearns studies learning theory and algorithmic decisions, including research on privacy, fairness and social interaction. Kearns studied mathematics and computer science at Berkeley, completing his undergraduate degree in 1985, and earned a Harvard doctorate in 1989. His dissertation examined the computational complexity of machine learning with Leslie Valiant as adviser. His dissertation provided the theoretical base for his research. In 2019, Kearns gave public talks on The Ethical Algorithm, a book he wrote with Aaron Roth about social values in algorithm design. He became an Amazon Scholar in June 2020, focusing on fairness, privacy and responsible AI.
- Now at
- University of Pennsylvania and Amazon
- Works
- 276
- Citations
- 20,098
- h-index
- 69
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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1985–1989
The complexity of learning
Kearns studied mathematics and computer science at Berkeley, completing his undergraduate degree in 1985, and earned a Harvard doctorate in 1989. His dissertation examined the computational complexity of machine learning with Leslie Valiant as adviser. His dissertation provided the theoretical base for his research.
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1991–1998
Learning research at Bell Labs
He worked in machine learning and AI at AT&T Bell Labs from 1991 to 2001. He published a 1993 conference paper and a 1998 journal paper on noise-tolerant learning through statistical queries.
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2002
A research program at Penn
Kearns joined Pennsylvania in January 2002. He researches machine learning, algorithmic game theory and computational social science through mathematical work and human-subject experiments on strategic interaction. He also founded network and social systems research programs.
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2019–2020
Algorithms and social values
Kearns gave public talks on The Ethical Algorithm in 2019, a book he wrote with Aaron Roth about social values in algorithm design. He became an Amazon Scholar in June 2020, focusing on fairness, privacy and responsible AI.
Sources and credits
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