Dr. David C. Parkes is a distinguished computer scientist and academic leader at the forefront of computational economics and artificial intelligence. He currently serves as the John A. Paulson Dean of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, a position he assumed on October 15, 2023, making him the first computer scientist to lead the school since its elevation to a school in 2007 and the first dean to rise from a faculty position within the school. He also holds the prestigious George F. Colony Professorship of Computer Science at Harvard University, having been a member of the faculty since 2001. Prior to his deanship, Parkes served as the SEAS area dean for computer science from 2013 to 2017 and played a pivotal role in planning the school's move to Harvard's Allston campus while helping establish Harvard's master's program in data science.
Dr. Parkes founded the influential EconCS research group at Harvard, which conducts theoretical and experimental research at the intersection of economics and computer science, exploring artificial intelligence and algorithms for social and economic impact. He is internationally recognized for his pioneering work on incentive engineering for computational systems, with early research contributing significantly to the design of combinatorial auctions for selling complex packages of goods. His seminal contributions to decentralized mechanism design and mechanism design in dynamic environments have transformed how researchers approach resource allocation problems where participants, resources, and information change over time. These theoretical foundations have had practical applications across multiple domains including e-commerce and digital marketplaces, with his work serving as a cornerstone for computational mechanism design research worldwide.
Beyond his research contributions, Dr. Parkes has been honored as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, reflecting his substantial impact on these fields. He has demonstrated exceptional commitment to education, receiving multiple teaching awards including designation as Harvard College Professor twice, the Roslyn Abramson Award for Teaching, and the Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising. As dean, Parkes has identified artificial intelligence and sustainability as priority areas that require both deep technical understanding and societal context to drive positive impact, aiming to expand SEAS's intellectual ambition around these critical domains while building a new narrative about the school's identity. His leadership as former Faculty Co-Director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative and his service on numerous scientific advisory boards underscore his commitment to advancing interdisciplinary research and preparing the next generation of scholars in computer science.
