# Michael Mitzenmacher

> computer scientist

**Wikidata**: [Q6832850](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6832850)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Mitzenmacher)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/michael-mitzenmacher

## Summary
Michael Mitzenmacher is an American computer scientist known for contributions to algorithms, coding theory, hashing, data structures, and networking algorithms. He is a recipient of major honors including ACM Fellow (for contributions to coding theory, hashing algorithms and data structures, and networking algorithms) and the 2020 Paris Kanellakis Award for work on balanced allocations known as the "power of two choices."

## Biography
- Born: 1969
- Nationality: United States
- Education: Harvard University; University of California, Berkeley
- Known for: Contributions to algorithms, including the discovery and analysis of balanced allocations ("power of two choices")
- Employer(s): Santa Fe Institute (employer / affiliation)
- Field(s): Algorithms

## Contributions
Michael Mitzenmacher has made concrete, award-recognized contributions to algorithms and their practical applications. He is credited (as recognized by the Paris Kanellakis Award, 2020) for the discovery and analysis of balanced allocations, widely known as the "power of two choices," and for demonstrating their extensive applications to practice. The ACM recognized his work in coding theory, hashing algorithms, data structures, and networking algorithms when naming him an ACM Fellow (class cited as 2014). He has supervised PhD students who became researchers in their own right, including Eleni Drinea, Adam Kirsch, and Justin Thaler. Mitzenmacher maintains a public-facing blog at http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/. His academic lineage includes doctoral advisor Alistair Sinclair. He holds standard researcher identifiers (ISNI 0000000114537878; VIAF 102176457; Mathematics Genealogy Project ID 109110) that document his scholarly output and presence in library and citation systems.

## FAQs
### Q: Who is Michael Mitzenmacher?
A: Michael Mitzenmacher is an American computer scientist specializing in algorithms. He is known for work on hashing, coding theory, data structures, and the "power of two choices" balanced-allocation results.

### Q: What is the "power of two choices" and what did Mitzenmacher do with it?
A: The "power of two choices" refers to balanced-allocation results. Mitzenmacher was a principal contributor recognized by the 2020 Paris Kanellakis Award for the discovery and analysis of these balanced-allocation techniques and their practical applications.

### Q: What major honors has he received?
A: He was named an ACM Fellow (recognized for contributions to coding theory, hashing algorithms and data structures, and networking algorithms) and is also an IEEE Fellow. He received the Paris Kanellakis Award in 2020.

### Q: Where is he employed and where was he educated?
A: He is affiliated with the Santa Fe Institute. He was educated at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley.

## Why They Matter
Michael Mitzenmacher’s work bridges theoretical algorithmics and practical systems. The balanced-allocation results known as the "power of two choices," for which he received the Paris Kanellakis Award in 2020, provided a simple yet powerful method to reduce maximum load in randomized allocation processes; the award citation emphasizes the discovery, analysis, and extensive applications to practice. His contributions in coding theory, hashing, data structures, and networking algorithms were singled out when he was named an ACM Fellow, indicating sustained influence across multiple subfields of computer science. Through doctoral supervision (Eleni Drinea, Adam Kirsch, Justin Thaler) and a visible scholarly footprint captured by standard identifiers (ISNI, VIAF, Mathematics Genealogy Project), Mitzenmacher has propagated ideas and trained researchers who further those topics. Without his work, specific algorithmic techniques for load balancing and several algorithmic analyses recognized by major awards would be less developed, and the practical adoption paths highlighted by the Paris Kanellakis citation would be diminished.

## Notable For
- Receiving the Paris Kanellakis Award (2020) for the discovery and analysis of balanced allocations ("power of two choices") and their extensive applications to practice.
- Being named an ACM Fellow (class cited as 2014) for contributions to coding theory, hashing algorithms and data structures, and networking algorithms.
- Holding the title of IEEE Fellow (as recorded in provided identifiers).
- Academic mentorship of doctoral students including Eleni Drinea, Adam Kirsch, and Justin Thaler.
- Affiliation with the Santa Fe Institute and maintenance of the blog http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/.

## Body

### Personal and identity data
- Full name and alias: Michael Mitzenmacher; also listed as Michael David Mitzenmacher.
- Birth year: 1969.
- Sex/gender: male.
- Citizenship: United States.
- Instance: human.

### Education and academic lineage
- Educated at:
  - Harvard University.
  - University of California, Berkeley.
- Doctoral advisor:
  - Alistair Sinclair.
- Doctoral students:
  - Eleni Drinea.
  - Adam Kirsch.
  - Justin Thaler.
- Mathematics Genealogy Project ID: 109110.

### Research fields and focus
- Primary field of work: algorithms.
- Specific areas cited in honors:
  - Coding theory.
  - Hashing algorithms.
  - Data structures.
  - Networking algorithms.
- Notable research theme:
  - Balanced allocations / "power of two choices" (discovery and analysis cited by Paris Kanellakis Award in 2020).

### Awards and honors
- Paris Kanellakis Award (2020): For the discovery and analysis of balanced allocations, known as the power of two choices, and their extensive applications to practice.
- ACM Fellow (recognized for contributions to coding theory, hashing algorithms and data structures, and networking algorithms). Citation associated with the 2014 class of ACM Fellows.
- IEEE Fellow (recorded as an award received in the structured data).

### Affiliations and employment
- Employer / affiliation: Santa Fe Institute (non-profit research institute specializing in complex adaptive systems; headquartered in Santa Fe, United States; founded 1984).
- Membership:
  - Association for Computing Machinery (ACM); qualifier indicates ACM Fellow status starting 2015-01-08 in the membership record.

### Scholarly and professional identifiers
- ISNI: 0000000114537878.
- VIAF ID: 102176457.
- GND ID: 140232281.
- ORCID-like / other IDs:
  - dblp author id: 74/838.
  - MR author id: 346671.
  - ACM Digital Library author id: 81100154521.
  - Library of Congress authority id: n2004003451.
  - WorldCat entities id: E39PBJcGmbcYmpmQyv9PxCxdQq.
  - Other catalog and national library identifiers listed in source material.

### Public presence
- Personal/blog website: http://mybiasedcoin.blogspot.com/.
- Wikipedia title: Michael Mitzenmacher (languages recorded: de, en, fr, sv).

### Publications and outputs
- The structured data and award citations link Mitzenmacher to foundational algorithmic results (notably the "power of two choices") and to broad contributions in coding theory, hashing, data structures, and networking algorithms. Specific papers, books, or dates of publication beyond the awards and identifiers are not enumerated in the provided source material.

## References

1. [Source](https://awards.acm.org/award-recipients/mitzenmacher_N017376)
2. [Source](https://www.acm.org/media-center/2015/january/fellows-2014)
3. Mathematics Genealogy Project
4. [Source](http://viaf.org/viaf/data/viaf-20170101-links.txt.gz)
5. Virtual International Authority File
6. CiNii Research
7. National Library of Israel Names and Subjects Authority File