Rediet Abebe: Meet the first black woman to earn PhD in computer science from top US university

  • Rediet Abebe has made history as the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science from the Cornell University

  • The 28-year-old doctor also has various degrees in Applied Maths and Maths from Harvard University and Cambridge University

  • Dr Abebe works in the fields of algorithms and artificial intelligence and is also a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows.

At 28 years, Rediet Abebe, has become the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University in the United States. The Ethiopian native is being celebrated as a trailblazer for her recent feat after making history as the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Computer Science from the university.

Dr Abebe is specialising in the fields of algorithms and artificial intelligence and is also a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows.

She develops techniques in algorithms and AI to mitigate socioeconomic inequality as part of her research. Dr Abebe also has studied for various degrees in Applied Maths and Maths from Harvard University and Cambridge University. ”When I started my PhD, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish, let alone have my graduation featured in the BBC,” Abebe recently said on Twitter following her recent feat.

As a pioneer, Dr Abebe was recently recognised as one of 35 Innovators Under 35 by the MIT Technology Review and honoured in the 2019 Bloomberg 50 list as a ”one to watch.” The 28-year-old history maker’s research work is greatly influenced by her upbringing in her hometown of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she lived before she moved to the U.S. in 2009.

Dr Abebe reveals that her research focuses on using artificial intelligence techniques to improve societal welfare.

The Cornell Sun reports that one of such examples addressed income shocks low-income people face including missed paychecks.

Dr Abebe applies a welfare model that uses information about families to find intervention methods and mitigate the effects of the income shocks. She affirms that: ”if you do computer science or applied mathematics and ultimately other fields, you can work on these really interesting challenging mathematical questions.” ”One can do a lot of data-driven work, play with data, but can also think about problems that affect society immediately,” Dr Abebe added.

Source:legit

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