[Theory] 3/11 Talks at TTIC: Kira Goldner, Columbia University

[Mary Marre]

*When:*      Thursday, March 11th at* 11:10 am CT*



*Where:*     Zoom Virtual Talk (*register in advance here
<https://uchicagogroup.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_v4Z2o2-HQq6O9LMI4TMl8A>*)



*Who: *       Kira Goldner, Columbia University



*Title:        *Mechanism Design for Social Good

*Abstract: *Society is run by algorithms, and in many cases, these
algorithms interact with participants who have a stake in the outcome.  The
participants may behave strategically in an attempt to "game the system,"
resulting in unexpected or suboptimal outcomes.  In order to accurately
predict an algorithm's outcome and quality, we must design it to be robust
to strategic manipulation.  This is the subject of algorithmic mechanism
design, which borrows ideas from game theory and economics to design robust
algorithms.

In this talk, I will show how results from the theoretical foundations of
algorithmic mechanism design can be used to solve problems of societal
concern.  I will focus on applications in carbon license allocations,
health insurance markets, and online labor markets.

*Bio:* Kira Goldner is a postdoctoral researcher in the Computer Science
Department and at the Data Science Institute at Columbia University, hosted
by Tim Roughgarden, and supported by NSF Math Sciences and Data Science
Institute fellowships.  Kira uses her background in the foundations of
mechanism design to address societal problems, e.g., in healthcare, climate
change, and privacy.  She has also worked on core problems concerning
revenue maximization, simplicity, and robustness.  As part of this agenda,
Kira co-founded Mechanism Design for Social Good (MD4SG), an
interdisciplinary initiative working to improve access to opportunity for
historically disadvantaged communities.  She received her PhD in computer
science and engineering from the University of Washington under the
advisement of Anna Karlin, and was supported by a Microsoft Research PhD
Fellowship and a Google Anita Borg Scholarship.  She has received many
awards for her work, including the EC 2019 Best Paper with a Student Lead
Author Award and the EC 2020 Best Presentation by a Student or Postdoctoral
Researcher Award.


*Host:* *Avrim Blum* <avrim at ttic.edu>





Mary C. Marre
Faculty Administrative Support
*Toyota Technological Institute*
*6045 S. Kenwood Avenue*
*Room 517*
*Chicago, IL  60637*
*p:(773) 834-1757*
*f: (773) 357-6970*
*mmarre at ttic.edu <mmarre at ttic.edu>*
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