Shafrira Goldwasser (; born 1959) is an Israeli-American computer scientist. A winner of the

Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in the fi ...

in 2012, she is the RSA Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

; a professor of mathematical sciences at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...

; the former director of the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

; and co-founder and chief scientist of Duality Technologies.

Education and early life

Born in New York City, Goldwasser obtained her bachelor's degree in 1979 in mathematics and science from

Carnegie Mellon Carnegie may refer to: People *Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name **Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist * Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie * ...

. She continued her studies in computer science at Berkeley, receiving a master's degree in 1981 and a PhD in 1984. While at Berkeley, she and her doctoral advisor,

Manuel Blum Manuel Blum (born 26 April 1938) is a Venezuelan-born American computer scientist who received the Turing Award in 1995 "In recognition of his contributions to the foundations of computational complexity theory and its application to cryptography ...

, would propose the Blum-Goldwasser cryptosystem.

Career and research

Goldwasser joined

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

in 1983, and in 1997 became the first holder of the RSA Professorship. She became a professor at the

, concurrent to her professorship at MIT, in 1993. She is a member of the

theory of computation In theoretical computer science and mathematics, the theory of computation is the branch that deals with what problems can be solved on a model of computation, using an algorithm, how efficiently they can be solved or to what degree (e.g., app ...

group at

MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) is a research institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) formed by the 2003 merger of the Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) and the Artificial Intelligence Lab ...

. In 2005, Goldwasser was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

for contributions to cryptography, number theory, and complexity theory, and their applications to privacy and security, and in 2006, Berkeley awarded her its Computer Science Distinguished Alumni Award. Goldwasser was a co-recipient of the 2012

for "revolutionizing the science of cryptography". Since November 2016, Goldwasser has been the chief scientist and co-founder of Duality Technologies, a US-based start-up which offers secure data analytics using advanced cryptographic techniques. She is also a scientific advisor for several technology startups in the security area, including QED-it, specializing in the Zero Knowledge Blockchain, and Algorand, a pure proof-of-stake

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

. On January 1, 2018, she became the director of Berkeley's Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing, a position she held until August 2024. Goldwasser's research areas include

computational complexity theory In theoretical computer science and mathematics, computational complexity theory focuses on classifying computational problems according to their resource usage, and explores the relationships between these classifications. A computational problem ...

cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

and

computational number theory In mathematics and computer science, computational number theory, also known as algorithmic number theory, is the study of computational methods for investigating and solving problems in number theory and arithmetic geometry, including algorithm ...

. She is the co-inventor of

probabilistic encryption Probabilistic encryption is the use of randomness in an encryption algorithm, so that when encrypting the same message several times it will, in general, yield different ciphertexts. The term "probabilistic encryption" is typically used in referen ...

, which set up and achieved the gold standard for security for data encryption. Goldwasser is a co-inventor of

zero-knowledge proof In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof (also known as a ZK proof or ZKP) is a protocol in which one party (the prover) can convince another party (the verifier) that some given statement is true, without conveying to the verifier any information ...

s, which probabilistically and interactively demonstrate the validity of an assertion without conveying any additional knowledge, and are a key tool in the design of

cryptographic protocol A cryptographic protocol is an abstract or concrete Communications protocol, protocol that performs a information security, security-related function and applies cryptographic methods, often as sequences of cryptographic primitives. A protocol desc ...

s. Her work in complexity theory includes the classification of approximation problems, showing that some problems in NP remain hard even when only an approximate solution is needed, and pioneering methods for delegating computations to untrusted servers. Her work in number theory includes the invention with Joe Kilian of primality proving using elliptic curves. Goldwasser is also a lead on Project CETI, an interdisciplinary initiative for translating the communication of sperm whales.

Awards and honors

Goldwasser was awarded the 2012

along with

Silvio Micali Silvio Micali (born October 13, 1954) is an Italian computer scientist, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the founder of Algorand, a proof-of-stake blockchain cryptocurrency protocol. Micali's research at the MIT Compu ...

for their work in the field of cryptography. Goldwasser has twice won the

Gödel Prize The Gödel Prize is an annual prize for outstanding papers in the area of theoretical computer science, given jointly by the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) and the Association for Computing Machinery Special Inter ...

theoretical computer science Theoretical computer science is a subfield of computer science and mathematics that focuses on the Abstraction, abstract and mathematical foundations of computation. It is difficult to circumscribe the theoretical areas precisely. The Associati ...

: first in 1993 (for ''"The knowledge complexity of interactive proof systems"''), and again in 2001 (for ''Interactive Proofs and the Hardness of Approximating Cliques''). Other awards include the

ACM Grace Murray Hopper Award The Grace Murray Hopper Award (named for computer pioneer Rear admiral, RADM Grace Hopper) has been awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) since 1971. The award goes to a computer professional who makes a single, significant tech ...

(1996) for outstanding young computer professional of the year and the

RSA Award for Excellence in Mathematics Formally called since 2025 The RSAC Conference Award for Excellence in Mathematics, is an annual award. It is announced at the annual RSA Conference in recognition of innovations and contributions in the field of cryptography. An award committee o ...

(1998) for outstanding mathematical contributions to cryptography. In 2001 she was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

and in 2002 she gave a plenary lecture at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Beijing. In 2004 she was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

, and in 2005 to the

. She was selected as an IACR Fellow in 2007. Goldwasser received the 2008–2009 Athena Lecturer Award of the Association for Computing Machinery's Committee on Women in Computing. She is the recipient of

The Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and a center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and wikt:statesman, statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin ...

's 2010 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science. She received the IEEE Emanuel R. Piore Award in 2011. She received the 2018 Frontier of Knowledge award together with Micali, Rivest and Shamir. Goldwasser was elected as an

ACM Fellow ACM Fellowship is an award and fellowship that recognises outstanding members of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). The title of ACM Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals ...

in 2017. In July 2017, she was a plenary lecturer in the Mathematical Congress of the Americas. In 2018, Goldwasser was awarded an honorary degree by her alma mater,

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

. In June 2019 Goldwasser was awarded an honorary doctorate of science by the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. Goldwasser is featured in the Notable Women in Computing cards. She won the

Suffrage Science award The Suffrage Science award is a prize for women in science, engineering and computing founded in 2011, on the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS). There are three categories of awar ...

in 2016. She was on the Mathematical Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize in 2020. She was awarded the 2021 L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award in Computer Science.

Personal life

Goldwasser is married to fellow computer scientist Nir Shavit, with whom she has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldwasser, Shafi American computer scientists Israeli computer scientists Theoretical computer scientists 1959 births Living people Modern cryptographers Israeli women computer scientists Israeli women academics 2017 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery International Association for Cryptologic Research fellows Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gödel Prize laureates Grace Murray Hopper Award laureates Turing Award laureates Academic staff of Weizmann Institute of Science Carnegie Mellon University alumni UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni American emigrants to Israel Naturalized citizens of Israel Israeli Jews Jewish American scientists MIT School of Engineering faculty Computer scientists from New York City 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers 20th-century American mathematicians 21st-century American mathematicians 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American women scientists Simons Investigator 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century American women mathematicians Mathematicians from New York (state) Israeli cryptographers The Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computer and Cognitive Science laureates L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates