Friends of IHES is delighted to welcome mathematician and computer scientist Delaram Kahrobaei to the Friends of IHES Board of Directors, which she officially joined on June 27, 2023.

Delaram Kahrobaei is Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at the City University of New York (CUNY), Honorary Chair of Cybersecurity at the University of York, in the United Kingdom, and Adjunct Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at New York University. Her research interests are in post-quantum algebraic cryptography, the mathematics of artificial intelligence, and applied algebra.

Prof. Kahrobaei grew up in Iran and graduated with a double Bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from the Sharif University of Technology, in Teheran, which she attended alongside mathematician and Fields medalist Maryam Mirzakhani.

After obtaining a PhD in computational and combinatorial algebra from CUNY and a degree in computer science from the City College of New York, she moved to the UK. She became Assistant Professor in Pure Mathematics at the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of St. Andrews, and she later joined the University of York where she was the Chair of Cyber Security at the Department of Computer Science. She was also the founding director of the York Interdisciplinary Centre for Cyber Security. She moved back to New York to join CUNY in 2021.

Prof. Kahrobaei is an active member of several international networks concerned with cybersecurity and responsible data science. She is a member of the Initiative for the Theoretical Sciences at CUNY, of the Board of the Feynman Foundation, Quantum for Humanity in Brussels, and takes part in a number of initiatives such as QUASAR (Quantum Security via Algebras and Representation Theory) based at the University of Ottawa, Canada. She was also the President and co-founder of the successful university start-up Infoshield, Inc.

She is a scientific Board member at the Feynman Foundation Quantum for Humanity, NodeQ (US-UK based Quantum start-up), LifeNome Inc, a biotech company.

Her connections with IHES date back to her PhD studies, when she first heard about the Institute from Dennis Sullivan, a permanent professor at IHES between 1974 and 1995. It is, however, during her time as a lecturer in St. Andrews that she visited IHES for the first time. She has since come back to IHES as a visiting professor on several occasions.

In 2021 Prof. Kahrobaei participated in the series “Voices of Women at IHES”, in which she recounted her experience as a woman scientist at IHES in a video testimony. The same year, she also took part in the Friends of IHES Gala on Women and Fundamental Research.

“It is my great honor to join Friends of IHES as a member of the Board of directors. IHES is a prestigious institution which during my several visits provided me with an extraordinary environment to achieve my mathematical goals. I look forward to working under the leadership of the Friends of IHES co-Chairs, Marilyn and Jim Simons, together with other members, including the director of IHES, Emmanuel Ullmo, and the director of development, Claire Lenz, to promote IHES, a home for other American Scientists.”, said Prof. Kahrobaei.

“We are very happy that Delaram has accepted to join the Friends of IHES Board of Directors. Her academic profile and her links with the industry make her a perfect fit for our organization. Her positive and very proactive attitude has already made her a very valuable Member” – said Jim and Marilyn Simons, co-Chairs of Friends of IHES.