Professor Kate Larson has been appointed a University Research Chair in recognition of her outstanding research contributions to the field of artificial intelligence. Waterloo’s designation of University Research Chair recognizes exceptional achievement of faculty and their pre-eminence in a field of knowledge.
Professor Larson joined the Cheriton School of Computer Science as an Assistant Professor in 2004. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 and to Professor in 2017. She has established a strong international reputation in the field of multi-agent systems, a subfield of artificial intelligence that brings together computer science, mathematics and economics. Her research spans a variety of subtopics in the field, including game-theoretic models of reasoning, voting behaviour, the design of electronic marketplaces, and multi-agent negotiation. She has introduced ideas from game theory, mechanism design, and microeconomics to model and design intelligent systems.
“Kate has made many substantial contributions to AI research and she has introduced ideas from game theory, mechanism design, and microeconomics to model and design intelligent systems into this stream of research,” said Mark Giesbrecht, Director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. “Her work is highly respected by her peers at the Cheriton School of Computer Science, across Canada and internationally. This recognition is very much deserved”
In 2015, Professor Larson received a CS-Can/Info-Can Outstanding Young Computer Science Researcher Award, a national recognition of top young computer scientists. She received an Ontario Early Research Award in 2006. Within the Cheriton School of Computer Science she was a Cheriton Faculty Fellow from 2012 to 2015, a prestigious recognition that supports the research of leading faculty. Most recently, she became a Pasupalak AI Fellow, a position she holds between 2018 and 2021.
Professor Larson’s appointment to a seven-year term as University Research Chair is effective July 1, 2019. She is the eighth faculty member at the Cheriton School of Computer Science to be appointed a University Research Chair, following Professor Raouf Boutaba (2018), Professor Lila Kari (2015), Professor Ian Goldberg (2012), Professor Bin Ma (2008), Professor Timothy Chan (2005), Professor Doug Stinson (2005), and Professor Tamer Özsu (2004).
