Scott Aaronson
Scott Aaronson | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 21, 1981 United States |
| Occupation | Theoretical computer scientist |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Known for | Computational complexity theory, quantum computing, Complexity Zoo, "Quantum Computing Since Democritus" |
| Notable work | "Quantum Computing Since Democritus" |
Scott Joel Aaronson (born May 21, 1981) is a prominent American theoretical computer scientist currently holding the Schlumberger Centennial Chair of Computer Science at the University of Texas at Austin. His primary research areas include computational complexity theory and quantum computing.
Early life and education
Raised in the United States, Aaronson spent a year living in Asia when his father, initially a science writer who later transitioned to public relations, was stationed in Hong Kong. While attending school there, he progressed rapidly in mathematics; however, upon returning to the U.S., he encountered academic challenges. He subsequently enrolled in The Clarkson School, an advanced education program affiliated with Clarkson University, which facilitated his early college admission. He gained acceptance to Cornell University, where he completed a BSc in computer science in 2000 and resided at the Telluride House. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 2004 under the supervision of Umesh Vazirani.
Exhibiting a strong mathematical aptitude from a young age, Aaronson taught himself calculus by age 11 and simultaneously began exploring computer programming. Although he felt less skilled than his peers in coding but excelled in mathematics, he gravitated toward theoretical computer science and computational complexity, eventually specializing in quantum computing during his studies at Cornell.
Career
Following postdoctoral appointments at the Institute for Advanced Study and the University of Waterloo, Aaronson joined the faculty at MIT in 2007. His scholarly work centers on quantum computing alongside computational complexity theory.
In 2016, he transitioned to the University of Texas at Austin as the David J. Bruton Jr. Centennial Professor of Computer Science and became the founding director of UT Austin's Quantum Information Center. Beginning in 2022, he undertook a year-long role at OpenAI focused on the theoretical underpinnings of AI safety, extending his tenure there to two years.
Popular work
Aaronson is the creator of the Complexity Zoo, an extensive directory of computational complexity classes, and maintains the blog "Shtetl-Optimized".
His graduate-level course titled "Quantum Computing Since Democritus" weaves together concepts from quantum mechanics, complexity theory, free will, time travel, and the anthropic principle; this course was published by Cambridge University Press. His interdisciplinary methodology is further articulated in his essay "Why Philosophers Should Care About Computational Complexity".
His article "The Limits of Quantum Computers" was featured in Scientific American. Aaronson has delivered keynote presentations at major conferences and is frequently referenced across popular media outlets such as Science News, The Age, ZDNet, Slashdot, New Scientist, The New York Times, and Forbes.
Awards
- Recipient of the 2012 Alan T. Waterman Award.
- Honored with Best Student Paper Awards at the Computational Complexity Conference for works titled "Limitations of Quantum Advice and One-Way Communication" (2004) and "Quantum Certificate Complexity" (2003).
- Awarded the Danny Lewin Best Student Paper Award at the Symposium on Theory of Computing for "Lower Bounds for Local Search by Quantum Arguments" (2004).
- Winner of the 2009 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
- Awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship in 2009.
- Named a Simons Investigator in 2017.
- Elected as an ACM Fellow in 2019 due to his significant contributions to quantum computing and computational complexity.
- Honored with the 2020 ACM Prize in Computing for pioneering achievements in quantum computing.
Personal life
Aaronson is married to Dana Moshkovitz, a fellow computer scientist. He identifies as Jewish and has expressed that his Jewish and Zionist beliefs have played a significant role in shaping his worldview.
External links
- 1981 births
- American expatriates in Hong Kong
- Cornell University alumni
- 2019 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery
- Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
- Jewish American scientists
- Living people
- MIT School of Engineering faculty
- American quantum information scientists
- Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
- Science bloggers
- 21st-century American science writers
- Simons Investigator
- American theoretical computer scientists
- UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni
- University of Texas at Austin faculty
- Sloan Research Fellows
- AI safety scientists
- OpenAI people