Yaxing Yao, an assistant professor of computer science, has been named a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s prestigious CAREER Award, which recognizes the excellence of early-career faculty members with the potential for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.
His research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction, privacy and security, and AI, covering various technological contexts and user groups, including at-risk populations like people with disabilities, children, and teenagers. As the director of the Hopkins Privacy and Security Lab, Yao focuses on empowering people with more control over their privacy in increasingly complicated socio-technical environments—work that has been generously supported by the NSF, Meta, and Google.
His five-year NSF CAREER award, “Enhancing Privacy Literacy for Elementary School Children via Long-Term Family, School, and Community Partnerships,” will support the development of a new education model that builds partnerships among families, schools, and community organizations to create a supportive network that reinforces privacy concepts, fosters critical thinking about privacy, and helps young children navigate the digital landscape with confidence.