Chayes ’79 to Serve as Managing Director of New Microsoft Research Lab in NYC

Mathematical physicist Jennifer Chayes ’79 recently announced the opening of the new Microsoft Research New York City lab, which will consist of 15 researchers who previously worked at Yahoo! Research. According to The New York Times, the lab will “include well-known researchers in hot niches of computing research like Duncan Watts (online social behavior), David Pennock (prediction markets) and John Langford (machine learning).”

Chayes will be the managing director of the new research lab. On the Inside Microsoft Research web site, she says: “This new lab will provide an opportunity for Microsoft Research researchers and developers worldwide to share and interact with the NYC academic and tech communities. Specifically, MSR-NYC has started to reach out to prestigious research universities in the area, including Columbia, NYU, the new Cornell-Technion NYC campus, Princeton, and Rutgers, to discuss ways to collaborate more closely and to support each other. We look forward to continuing these conversations and realizing the potential opportunities available.”

Chayes points out that “New York City recently has dedicated itself to becoming a leader in technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched an Applied Sciences NYC initiative, seeking to infuse New York’s economy with collaborative research between universities and businesses to spur economic growth.”

Chayes also will continue her work as managing director of Microsoft Research New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts.