Cynthia Dwork
Cynthia Dwork is an American theoretical computer scientist recognized for establishing the mathematical foundations of differential privacy, a framework that quantifies and guarantees individual privacy in data analysis outputs.[1][2] She holds the position of Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, with affiliations in Harvard Law School and the Department of Statistics.[3]
Dwork's career includes over three decades in industrial research laboratories at IBM and Microsoft before joining Harvard, during which she advanced cryptography through innovations such as non-malleable encryption, the first lattice-based public-key cryptosystem, and proof-of-work mechanisms that underpin modern cryptocurrencies.[1] Her work extends to fault-tolerant distributed systems and statistical validity in adaptive data analysis, addressing core challenges in ensuring reliable inferences from explored datasets.[1] Differential privacy, co-developed by Dwork, has been deployed widely, including in Apple's devices for location services and the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 disclosure avoidance system.[1][4]
Among her honors, Dwork received the National Medal of Science in 2025 for contributions to privacy, cryptography, and distributed computing; the ACM-IEEE Knuth Prize in 2020; the Gödel Prize; and the ACM Paris Kanellakis Theory and Practice Award in 2021.[5][6][2] She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.[3]