PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Shafi Goldwasser

Also known as Shafrira Goldwasser, שפרירה גולדווסר

Shafi Goldwasser is a computer scientist known for cryptography, and her work extends into machine learning. Working with Silvio Micali, she introduced probabilistic encryption as a Berkeley student, and she became the first holder of the RSA Professorship in 1997. In 2012 she and Micali won the ACM Turing Award. In 2022, a paper she wrote with three co-authors explained how a malicious individual could subvert a machine-learning classifier. As of October 2026, she is Research Director for the Resilience Research Pod at the Simons Institute and a professor at UC Berkeley.

Works
286
Citations
30,160
h-index
62

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1979–1984

    Probabilistic encryption at Berkeley

    She earns a BS in applied mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University in 1979, and an MS and PhD in computer science from UC Berkeley in 1984. Along with Silvio Micali, she introduces probabilistic encryption while a student at Berkeley.

  2. 1983–1997

    The first RSA Professorship

    She joins MIT in 1983, and in 1997 she becomes the first holder of the RSA Professorship.

  3. 2012

    Sharing the Turing Award

    In 2012 she and Silvio Micali win the ACM Turing Award.

  4. 2016

    Co-founding Duality Technologies

    In November 2016 she co-founds Duality Technologies to commercialize fully homomorphic encryption.

  5. 2018–2024

    Directing the Simons Institute

    In 2018 she takes over as director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at UC Berkeley, a post she holds until 2024.

  6. April 2022

    Planting undetectable backdoors

    In April 2022 she, Michael Kim, Vinod Vaikuntanathan and Or Zamir post a paper explaining how a malicious individual can subvert a machine-learning classifier.

  7. As of October 2026

    Research Director for Resilience

    She is the Research Director for the Resilience Research Pod at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, and the C. Lester Hogan Professor in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley.

Sources and credits

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  1. Shafi Goldwasser simons.berkeley.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Shafi Goldwasser - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Shafi Goldwasser | Profiles | Jewish Women's Archive jwa.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Shafi Goldwasser Appointed Director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing – Simons Foundation simonsfoundation.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. [2204.06974] Planting Undetectable Backdoors in Machine Learning Models arxiv.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Machine-learning models vulnerable to undetectable backdoors theregister.com. Checked 15 October 2026.