Susan T Dumais

Also known as Susan Dumais

Susan Dumais is a computer scientist in information retrieval and human-computer interaction who co-developed Latent Semantic Analysis, an early word-embedding technique for search. A Lewiston native, she earned a Bates College degree in mathematics and psychology in 1975 and an Indiana University PhD in 1979, then worked at Bell Labs and Bellcore. After joining Microsoft Research in July 1997, she managed its Context, Learning and User Experience for Search group and served as deputy managing director of the Redmond lab and of Microsoft Research AI. Her honours include the 2009 SIGIR Gerard Salton Award, election to the National Academy of Engineering in 2011, to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015 and to the American Philosophical Society in 2025. She is a Technical Fellow at Microsoft and Managing Director of Microsoft Research New England, New York City and Montréal.

Now at: Microsoft Research and University of Washington
Born: 1953
Works: 398
Citations: 57,305
h-index: 90
Badges: Bridge
Wayfarer
Loyal

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

1975–1979

Bates and an Indiana PhD

A Lewiston native, she graduates magna cum laude from Bates College in 1975 with a degree in mathematics and psychology, and she coauthors a paper in the journal Nature with Drake Bradley. She completes a PhD in cognitive-mathematical psychology at Indiana University in December 1979 under Richard Shiffrin.
1979–1997

Bell Labs and Bellcore

She joins Bell Laboratories in 1979 as a member of technical staff in its Human-Computer Interaction Research Group. In 1984, she moves to Bell Communications Research as a research scientist, and she directs its Information Sciences Research Group from 1995 to 1997.
1987–1990

Latent Semantic Analysis

In 1987, she coauthors "The Vocabulary Problem in Human-System Communication", which shows that people use a surprisingly great variety of words for the same thing. In 1990, she coauthors "Indexing by Latent Semantic Analysis" in the Journal of the American Society for Information Science, and she co-develops Latent Semantic Analysis, an early word-embedding technique that mitigates the mismatch between the words authors write and the words searchers use.
1997–2017

Search research at Microsoft

In July 1997, she joins Microsoft Research, working in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group until 2006. She then manages the Context, Learning and User Experience for Search group until 2017, collaborating with the Bing, Windows Search, SharePoint and Office Help product groups on search-related innovations.
2009–2015

Salton Award and academy elections

She receives the ACM SIGIR Gerard Salton Award for lifetime achievement in 2009 and is elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2011. In 2014, she is named the ACM Athena Lecturer, and in 2015 she is inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
2014–2020

Deputy managing director at Microsoft Research

She serves as deputy managing director of the Microsoft Research Redmond lab from March 2014 to May 2017. From May 2017 to December 2020, she is deputy managing director of Microsoft Research AI.
2020–2025

SIGCHI award and the Philosophical Society

She receives the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award for lifetime achievement in human-computer interaction in 2020. In 2025, she is elected to the American Philosophical Society.
Since 2021

Directing three Microsoft Research labs

In January 2021, she becomes Managing Director of Microsoft Research New England, New York City and Montréal. She is also a Technical Fellow at Microsoft and an adjunct professor at the University of Washington, and in June 2025 she gives the HCI International keynote on information seeking and sensemaking.

Career

Since 2021University of WashingtonAdjunct Professor
Since 1998MicrosoftTechnical Fellow
Since 1997Microsoft ResearchSearch research group manager, Deputy Managing Director
1984–1997Bell Communications ResearchResearch Scientist; Director of the Information Sciences Research Group
1984–1990Core Competence
1979–1984Bell LabsMember of Technical Staff
1978–1980Indiana University Bloomington