Biography

Thomas Courtade graduated summa cum laude with a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan Technological University in 2007. Upon receiving his Ph.D. from UCLA in 2012, he went to Stanford University, where he was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship through the NSF Center for Science of Information. In 2014, he joined the faculty of UC Berkeley's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Courtade's research interests are in the area of information theory, broadly defined. He is particularly interested in problems of a fundamental nature that lie the intersection of information theory, probability theory and computer science. He currently serves as an associate editor for the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, and previously co-chaired the IEEE Information Theory Society’s Student Subcommittee.

In addition to receiving the inaugural postdoctoral research fellowship from the NSF Center for Science of Information, Courtade's honors include an ISIT Best Student Paper Award, a Distinguished Ph.D. Dissertation Award, and an Excellence in Teaching Award from UCLA. More recently, Courtade has received a Hellman Fellowship and a NSF CAREER award.