Awards, People

UC Berkeley computer scientist wins 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship

By Public Affairs

An image of computer scientist Venkatesan Guruswami against a light background. (
UC Berkeley computer scientist Venkatesan Guruswami will use the fellowship to develop resource-efficient approaches to solving computational problems. (UC Berkeley graphic by Neil Freese)
An image of computer scientist Venkatesan Guruswami against a light background. (

UC Berkeley computer scientist Venkatesan Guruswami will use the fellowship to develop resource-efficient approaches to solving computational problems. (UC Berkeley graphic by Neil Freese)

Venkatesan Guruswami, a Chancellor’s Professor in UC Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, is among 171 American and Canadian scholars selected as 2023 Guggenheim Fellows, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced yesterday .

The prestigious awards recognize scholars with impressive achievements who also show exceptional promise in fields ranging from the natural sciences to the creative arts.

“I’m really delighted and grateful to be chosen for this Fellowship, and honored to join its distinguished roster of past recipients,” said Guruswami, who is also a senior scientist at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing.

Guggenheim Fellows each receive a one-time grant of varying amounts to complete their research, books or other projects. Guruswami, a theoretical computer scientist, will use the fellowship to continue his research into understanding and devising the most resource-efficient approaches to solving computational problems, and mapping the boundary between their tractable and intractable variants.

“Like Emerson, I believe that fullness in life comes from following our calling,” said Edward Hirsch, President of the Guggenheim Foundation and 1985 Fellow in Poetry, in a press release . “The new class of Fellows has followed their calling to enhance all of our lives, to provide greater human knowledge and deeper understanding. We’re lucky to look to them to bring us into the future.”