NYC Marathon, 2017
I am a partially reformed academic. I went to Princeton as an undergrad, planning to study creative writing and ended up getting a degree in mathematics instead. I did my masters in mathematics at the University of Cambridge and my Phd in computer science at the University of Texas at Austin. I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research New England, and then joined the faculty of Columbia in 2013.
For a while I was based in academia and dabbled in industry. I found that unsatisfying, since academics often do not have the right access or resources to address the problems that are the most impactful, especially in data science and cybersecurity. So now I am based in industry and dabble in academia. You can read more about my motivations in this personal statement that did not win me a Sloan Fellowship.
If you are wondering why I have not given up academia altogether, the answer is simple: teaching. Some academics do it begrudgingly, but I weirdly love it. It is core to who I am and want to be, and I'll probably be doing it in some form or other for the rest of my life.
I can be contacted by email at: allibishop@gmail.com. But I will be unimpressed by your blockchain or AI startup idea.
I am running for the IACR board in the 2022 election cycle. See here for my candidate statement.