Barbara Grosz

Barbara Grosz received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Cornell University and her Ph.D. in Computer Science from UC Berkeley. Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences in the Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, she has contributed to the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) through pioneering research in natural language processing and in theories of multi-agent collaboration and their application to human-computer interaction. Her research aims to develop the capabilities needed for computer-agent systems to function as intelligent, helpful team members, able to work effectively with people (as well as each other) over the long term and in uncertain, dynamic environments.  Her current research explores ways collaborative multi-agent systems and collaborative human-computer interaction design can improve the systems patients and physicians use for health care planning, coordination and communication. She also has interests in applying models of collaboration to science and math education.

Founding dean of science and then dean of Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, designing and launching its science program and subsequently "Academic Ventures", she is known for her role in the establishment and leadership of multidisciplinary institutions and is widely respected for her many contributions to the advancement of women in science.  Professor Grosz currently chairs the Standing Committee for Stanford's One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence and serves on the boards of several scientific, scholarly and academic institutions.  In 2017, Grosz received an Everett Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard's Graduate Student Council. A member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Philosophical Society, she is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a corresponding fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.  She received the 2009 ACM/AAAI Allen Newell Award, the 2015 IJCAI Award for Research Excellence, and the 2017 Association for Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award.