UBC Computer Science has 14 new faculty joining the department over the next year and a half
With the rapid changes and constant innovation in computer science, as well as increased demand from aspiring students, it’s crucial for universities to keep pace with enough faculty.
The University of British Columbia's (UBC) Computer Science Department has risen to this challenge, recently recruiting 14 new hires (12 in the most recent recruiting season).
Three of the hires are set to join the department this year, with the remainder joining in 2025 and one in 2026. They bring a wealth of expertise and diverse research interests, promising to make significant contributions to the department and the broader research community.
The new faculty are filling 5 different hiring streams, one being a joint appointment with Michael Smith Laboratories.
A significant investment
The department’s commitment to securing top-tier talent underscores the university’s dedication to maintaining a competitive edge in our fast-paced, technologically-driven world. Co-Head of the department, Dr. Joanna McGrenere explained, “Computer Science degrees continue to be in very high demand globally, making recruiting in this discipline extraordinarily competitive. We’ve hired incredible talent across the bar, including in our educational leadership stream for our expanding Masters of Data Science program, as well as in our research stream to bolster some strategic areas, including Theoretical Computer Science, AI Methods for Scientific Impact (AIM-SI), Computer Systems broadly construed, and Computer Graphics. The department is ecstatic to welcome our new recruits."
The new hires
Starting in 2024
- Reto Achermann: Operating systems, applied formal methods and hardware models
- Nguyen Phong Hoang: Network security, online privacy, and Internet measurement
- Xin Tang: Artificial intelligence and single-cell biology
Starting in 2025
- Kelsey Allen: Cognitive science, machine learning, and robotics
- Peter Yichen Chen: Artificial intelligence, graphics, and scientific computing
- Nathaniel Harms: Randomized algorithms and communication complexity
- Elham Khoda: Data science and machine learning (Educational Leadership stream)
- Ilya Musabirov: Data science and computer science education (Educational Leadership stream)
- Akshay Ramachandran: Optimization algorithms
- Evan Shelhamer: Computer vision and machine learning
- Yuanhao (Hao) Wei: Concurrent programming
- Peter West: Natural Language Processing and artificial intelligence
- Wanrong Zhang: Differential privacy and responsible artificial intelligence
Starting in 2026
- Serena Wang: Societal impacts of machine learning
Looking ahead
The department eagerly anticipates the innovative contributions and academic excellence these new faculty members will bring to UBC Computer Science.