Amit Sahai, a professor of computer science and holder of the Symantec Term Chair in Computer Science at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He was honored for his contributions to cryptography, obfuscation and attribute-based encryption.
Sahai, who serves as the Computer Science Department’s vice chair for academic advancement, also holds a joint appointment in the Mathematics Department at UCLA. He directs the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Encrypted Functionalities, which studies cryptography, coding theory, complexity theory and artificial intelligence. He is the co-inventor of attribute-based encryption, functional encryption and indistinguishability obfuscation — foundational advances that expand how encrypted data can be securely used and shared.
He has been an advisor to 22 doctoral graduates and has authored more than 150 original technical research papers across a range of top publications, including the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Symposium on Theory of Computing, the Annual International Cryptology Conference and the Journal of the ACM. He serves as an editor of the Journal of Cryptology and is an advisor to the nonprofit Prison Mathematics Project.
In 2021, Sahai was named a Simons Investigator for his work advancing indistinguishability obfuscation and functional encryption. In 2022, he received the National Academy of Sciences Michael and Sheila Held Prize for his role in the development of indistinguishability obfuscation. He is a fellow of ACM, the Royal Society of Arts, the International Association for Cryptologic Research and the American Mathematical Society. He has also been recognized for his work in the classroom, receiving UCLA Samueli’s 2016 Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award.
Sahai’s research has been featured by many news organizations, including Forbes, BBC, Quanta Magazine, Wired and IEEE Spectrum.