PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Rachel Ward

Rachel Ward is a mathematician at the University of Texas at Austin whose research connects mathematics with AI through language models, generative AI and the testing of AI systems. She completed a PhD at Princeton in 2009, worked as a Courant Instructor at NYU, and joined UT Austin in 2011. In 2017–2018 she was a visiting research scientist at Facebook AI Research, and she received the 2016 IMA Prize and the 2022 Peter O'Donnell Distinguished Researcher Award. In December 2024 she co-authored the Phi-4 Technical Report, which describes a 14-billion parameter language model, and in 2025 she gave a talk on generative AI at Oregon State's Milne Lecture. As of October 2026, she holds the Moncrief Distinguished Professorship in Data Science and sits on the Editorial Board of First Proof.

Timeline

  1. 2009–2011

    From Princeton to UT Austin

    She completes a PhD in computational and applied mathematics at Princeton in 2009, works as a Courant Instructor at NYU, and joins UT Austin in 2011.

  2. 2016

    The 2016 IMA Prize

    She receives the 2016 IMA Prize in Mathematics and its Applications, and her other awards include a Sloan research fellowship and an NSF CAREER award.

  3. 2017–2018

    A visit to Facebook AI Research

    She works as a visiting research scientist at Facebook AI Research in 2017–2018.

  4. 2022

    Peter O'Donnell Distinguished Researcher Award

    She receives the 2022 Peter O'Donnell Distinguished Researcher Award from the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences.

  5. December 2024

    Co-authoring the Phi-4 report

    In December 2024 she co-authors the Phi-4 Technical Report, which describes a 14-billion parameter language model.

  6. 2025

    A talk on generative AI

    At the 2025 Milne Lecture, hosted by Oregon State, she gives a talk on generative AI.

  7. February 2026

    Editorial Board of First Proof

    In February 2026 she co-authors the arXiv paper First Proof, which tests AI systems on research-level mathematics, and she sits on the project's Editorial Board.

  8. As of October 2026

    Moncrief Distinguished Professor

    She holds the Moncrief Distinguished Professorship in Data Science and is a professor of mathematics at UT Austin.

Sources and credits

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  1. Rachel Ward oden.utexas.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Rachel Ward – Applied Mathematics Group amg.oden.utexas.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Distinguished Researcher Award 2022 Goes to Rachel Ward oden.utexas.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Phi-4 Technical Report - Microsoft Research microsoft.com. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Milne Lecture: "From bits to bots: a mathematical perspective on generative AI" | Department of Statistics stat.oregonstate.edu. Checked 14 October 2026.
  6. [2602.05192] First Proof arxiv.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  7. First Proof Project 1stproof.org. Checked 14 October 2026.