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Most of my research has been on cryptography, the mathematical treatment of secure communication. I did my undergrad at UC Berkeley and my Ph.D. at MIT, in the Theory of Computation group, where I studied under Silvio Micali. After graduating I worked at IBM as a security architect (1991), then came to UCD (1994), where I’ve spent the majority of my time since. My research has focused on obtaining provably good solutions to protocol problems of utility to people’s privacy and security. I’ve been lucky enough to get some nice recognition for this work, including the Levchin prize (2016), PET Award (2015), IACR Fellow (2012), ACM Paris Kanellakis Award (2009), and the RSA Award in Mathematics (2003).
In recent years I have grown increasingly skeptical of the claimed benefits of CS, which routinely seem dwarfed by the harms we help cause. Correspondingly, I have shifted much of my attention to social and ethical issues connected to technology, especially the climate crisis and the problem of mass surveillance. I shifted much of my university teaching to ethics (course ECS 188). I support social justice and environmental movements including BDS and JVP, BLM, and XR. I will officially retire from UCD in 2024, spending my last term teaching ecs127 (cryptography) and an ecs189 on Black Mirror in Spring 2024. In general, my views are by now quite heretical for CS, which can be uncomfortable on all sides.
Personal information: my wife is Bongkotrattana Lailert. She goes by Kot. My son, Banlu Rogaway, age 13, loves rock climbing. I have lived in many countries around the world, but have spent the most time in Thailand and the USA. For the last few years, as my mother’s health declined, I split my time between Davis, California and Portland, Oregon. My sister, Jodi Walder, also lives in Portland. She is amazing at helping students navigate college admissions.