PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Sergio Verdú

Sergio Verdú is an information theorist whose work includes multiuser detection for CDMA and generalization bounds for machine-learning algorithms. He earned a telecommunications engineering degree in Barcelona in 1980, completed a PhD in electrical engineering at Illinois in 1984, and joined Princeton’s faculty in 1984. His 1998 book, Multiuser Detection, treated receiver design for multiaccess channels; he led the IEEE Information Theory Society in 1997 and received the Claude Shannon Award in 2007. Princeton dismissed him in September 2018 after a university investigation into his conduct. In 2018, he coauthored a paper with Asadi and Emmanuel Abbe on algorithm-dependent generalization bounds; in 2025, he published a correction as an independent researcher in Princeton.

Works
400
Citations
42,018
h-index
83

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1980–1984

    Telecommunications engineering and a PhD

    He earns a telecommunications engineering degree from the Universitat Politècnica de Barcelona in 1980 and a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1984.

  2. 1980s

    Multiuser detection for CDMA

    In the mid-1980s, he formalizes multiuser detection for CDMA receivers through an optimum maximum-likelihood detector.

  3. 1984–2018

    Princeton faculty and IEEE leadership

    He joins Princeton’s electrical engineering faculty in 1984 and researches information theory, data compression and transmission. He serves as president of the IEEE Information Theory Society in 1997; Princeton dismisses him in September 2018 after a university investigation into his conduct.

  4. 1998

    The Multiuser Detection textbook

    In 1998, Cambridge University Press publishes his book Multiuser Detection, a comprehensive treatment of receiver design and analysis for multiaccess channels.

  5. 2007

    The Shannon Award and NAE election

    He receives the 2007 Claude E. Shannon Award and is elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

  6. 2018

    Generalization bounds for learning

    With Amir R. Asadi and Emmanuel Abbe, he combines chaining and mutual information in a 2018 method for tighter generalization bounds in learning algorithms.

  7. 2025

    Independent research in Princeton

    In 2025, he publishes a correction to his article on relative information spectra and statistical inference as an independent researcher in Princeton.

Sources and credits

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  1. EUSIPCO 2011: 19th European Signal Processing Conference (Barcelona, Spain) - Keynote Speakers eurasip.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Multiuser detection | IEEE Technology Navigator technav.ieee.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Sergio Verdú simons.berkeley.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. U. confirms Verdu's dismissal following misconduct investigation - The Princetonian dailyprincetonian.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. Multiuser Detection - Sergio Verdú - Google Books books.google.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. ECE professor, two alumni named to NAE | Electrical & Computer Engineering | Illinois ece.illinois.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. Chaining Mutual Information and Tightening Generalization Bounds arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  8. Correction: Relative information spectra with applications to statistical inference aimspress.com. Checked 15 October 2026.