Shafi Goldwasser
1958–
Cryptography and complexity
Co-founded modern cryptography with zero‑knowledge proofs, probabilistic encryption, and rigorous notions of security and pseudorandomness.
Major Contributions
- - Co‑introduced zero‑knowledge proofs: proving statements without revealing additional information
- - Defined and advanced probabilistic encryption and semantic security
- - Developed foundational notions of pseudorandomness and hardness assumptions
- - Bridged complexity theory and cryptographic constructions with precise reductions
Recognition
- ACM A.M. Turing Award (2012)
"Zero‑knowledge changed how we think about knowledge and verification in computation."- Shafi Goldwasser