The 2000 ACM Turing Award recognized Andrew Yao for his foundational research in computational theory, including his development of the minimax-based concept known as Yao’s principle. His work spans the intersection of complexity theory, cryptography, and pseudorandom number generation, establishing him as a primary figure in theoretical computer science through his decades of academic tenure across both the United States and China.
Academic Foundations and Dual Doctorates
Born in Shanghai in 1946, Yao spent his formative years in Hong Kong and Taiwan. He attended Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School before completing a Bachelor of Science in physics at National Taiwan University in 1967. His graduate trajectory moved to the United States, where he earned a Master of Arts in 1969 and a doctorate in theoretical physics from Harvard University in 1972 under the supervision of Sheldon Glashow. By 1975, he had secured a second doctorate, this time in computer science, from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, advised by Chung Laung Liu.
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Yao held various faculty positions at leading research universities. His career included roles at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of California, Berkeley. In 1986, he joined Princeton University, remaining there until 2004. He later relocated his research program to Tsinghua University in Beijing, where he became the director of the Institute for Theoretical Computer Science and later the Dean of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences. In 2010, he initiated the Conference on Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science.
Awards and Professional Recognition
Yao’s professional contributions have been marked by several international honors. Beyond the Turing Award, he received the George Pólya Prize in 1987 and the Knuth Prize in 1996. He was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 1991 and an ACM Fellow in 1995. In 2021, he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology. He maintains memberships in the National Academy of Sciences, the Academia Sinica, and the Academic Division of Information Technical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Shift to China and AI Policy
In 2015, Yao renounced his U.S. citizenship to become an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a position he holds alongside his continued work in informatics. His recent academic activity includes a May 2024 collaborative paper regarding the risks posed by artificial intelligence. Co-authored with researchers including Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton, the publication advocates for the implementation of proactive governance mechanisms to address safety concerns in the field.
Fast facts
- Born: 1946, Shanghai
- Field: Computer science and informatics
- Turing Award: 2000
- Notable Work: Yao's principle
- Doctorates: Harvard University (1972) and University of Illinois (1975)
- Notable Employer: Tsinghua University
- Knuth Prize: 1996
- Kyoto Prize: 2021
Questions readers ask
What is Yao's principle?
It is a theoretical framework derived from the minimax theorem used to analyze computational complexity.
Which universities has Andrew Yao served?
He has held positions at MIT, Stanford, the University of California Berkeley, Princeton University, the University of California San Diego, and Tsinghua University.
Achievements
- Turing Award — 2000
- Notable work: Yao's principle
- Affiliated with Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University
- Educated at Harvard University, National Taiwan University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Worked as computer scientist and university teacher
