PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Nikhil Garg

Nikhil Garg is a Cornell operations researcher who applies algorithms and data science to public-interest AI and social systems. He earned a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2015, completed an M.S. and Ph.D. at Stanford in 2020, and coauthored a 2018 paper that used word embeddings to study gender and ethnic stereotypes. In 2020, he led data science at PredictWise during the U.S. election cycle, won the INFORMS George Dantzig Dissertation Award, and placed second in the M&SOM Student Paper Award. He held a postdoctoral appointment at UC Berkeley EECS, with a Cornell Tech assistant professor appointment planned to start in July 2021; Forbes named him to its 30 Under 30 list in Science in 2022. He received an NSF CAREER Award in September 2024 and served as an EAAMO program chair in 2025; as of October 2026, he is an assistant professor of Operations Research and Information Engineering at Cornell Tech.

Works
104
Citations
1,711
h-index
12

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 27 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2015

    A UT Austin degree

    He earns a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2015.

  2. 2018

    Word embeddings measure stereotypes

    He coauthors “Word Embeddings Quantify 100 Years of Gender and Ethnic Stereotypes,” which uses word embeddings to track changes in stereotypes and attitudes toward women and ethnic minorities in the United States.

  3. 2020

    Stanford graduate degrees

    He completes an M.S. and Ph.D. at Stanford in 2020 under advisors Ashish Goel and Ramesh Johari.

  4. 2020

    PredictWise and two awards

    During the 2020 U.S. election cycle, he leads data science at PredictWise. He wins the INFORMS George Dantzig Dissertation Award in 2020 and places second in the 2020 M&SOM Student Paper Award.

  5. 2021

    A planned Cornell Tech appointment

    After Stanford, he works as a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley EECS. Cornell Tech plans his assistant professor appointment in Operations Research and Information Engineering to start in July 2021.

  6. 2022

    Forbes 30 Under 30

    In 2022, Forbes names him to its 30 Under 30 list in Science for his work on designing more equitable economic and social systems.

  7. September 2024

    An NSF CAREER Award

    In September 2024, he receives an NSF CAREER Award to improve public-interest decision-making and develop statistical methods to engineer more efficient, transparent systems that account for missing information and heterogeneous behavior.

  8. 2025

    Program chair for EAAMO

    In 2025, he serves as a program chair for the ACM Conference on Equity and Access in Algorithms, Mechanisms, and Optimization (EAAMO).

  9. August 2026

    A New York City school study

    In August 2026, he coauthors “Connecting Application Behavior to Undermatching in New York City School Choice,” a Nature Cities paper that analyzes data from nearly 59,000 New York City students in the high-school admissions process.

  10. As of October 2026

    Assistant professor at Cornell

    As of October 2026, he is an assistant professor of Operations Research and Information Engineering at Cornell Tech, the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, and Cornell Engineering. His work applies algorithms, data science, and mechanism design to democracy, markets, and societal systems, advancing high-stakes public-interest AI.

Career

  1. NowCornell UniversityAssistant professor of Operations Research and Information Engineering
  2. PredictWiseData science lead
  3. University of California, BerkeleyPostdoctoral researcher

Education

  1. 2020Stanford UniversityM.S.
  2. 2020Stanford UniversityPh.D.
  3. 2015University of Texas at AustinB.S. in electrical and computer engineering

From the biography.

Sources and credits

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  1. Nikhil Garg | Cornell Duffield Engineering duffield.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. Word embeddings quantify 100 years of gender and ethnic stereotypes - PMC pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. Talk Archive – Stanford RAIN/OR Seminar rain.stanford.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. Bio · Nikhil Garg gargnikhil.com. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. Garg | Digital Life Initiative dli.tech.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Texas ECE alumnus Nikhil Garg Named to Forbes 30 under 30: Science | Texas ECE ece.utexas.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. ORIE’s Garg receives NSF CAREER Award | Cornell Duffield Engineering duffield.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  8. Leadership Position - ACM EAAMO '25 · EAAMO Conference 2025 conference2025.eaamo.org. Checked 27 October 2026.
  9. Research helps NYC students aim higher in public high school applications | Cornell Chronicle news.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  10. Cornell Tech - Nikhil Garg tech.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  11. Nikhil Garg gargnikhil.com. Checked 27 October 2026.