Lana Yarosh Receives Inaugural John T. Riedl Fellowship for Interactive Intelligent Systems

Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CS&E) Associate Professor Lana Yarosh was awarded the inaugural John T. Riedl Fellowship for Interactive Intelligent Systems. The faculty fellowship honors the late John Riedl, CS&E professor and co-founder of the GroupLens Research Lab. This fellowship was made possible by a gift from Lee Gordon, one of Riedl’s former students. 

Riedl was known worldwide as a pioneer in the field of recommender systems — a field he was instrumental in creating and nurturing — and one of the leading figures in the broader field of interactive intelligent systems. He was an innovative, dedicated teacher who had an inspiring, formative and even transformative effect on the lives of many students. This endowment fund will assist the University of Minnesota in recruiting, supporting and retaining outstanding faculty members in the College of Science and Engineering who have a focus in the area of interactive intelligent systems and who demonstrate excellence in classroom teaching and student mentoring. 

“I never had a chance to meet John, unfortunately, but I've certainly had a chance to see his legacy in action,” Yarosh said. “I have had the honor to work with a lot of his students, and they all speak very highly of him. John was very devoted to their training and growth as people. That is the kind of legacy that I also hope to achieve and I am really honored that I can work towards that with this award.”

“The department selected Lana Yarosh as the inaugural recipient of the Riedl Fellowship, because of how well she met the criteria for outstanding research, mentoring and teaching,” said Loren Turveen, CS&E Department Head. “She is one of our strongest and most innovative instructors, consistently earning outstanding student evaluations, as well as pioneering important classes in ethics, design and computer science research methods. She has successfully mentored many Ph.D. students, including multiple students who have gone on to become faculty themselves. Her research in intelligent systems for families, children and vulnerable populations is award-winning and influential.” 

Yarosh runs the ProDUCT (Prototyping, Design, and Usability of Communication Technologies) group. As part of the GroupLens Research Lab, her group is committed to the design and empirical study of social computing systems, frequently adding an embodiment perspective to these investigations. Her research primarily focuses on designing technology to help people in recovery from substance use disorders. Yarosh was named a Morse-Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor in 2021, received an NSF CAREER Award in 2017 and the Google Faculty Research Award in 2018. As an educator and mentor, she prioritizes real-world projects and student-to-student collaboration in the classroom.  

“If students are interested in research at any level, I believe in having students work on authentic, live projects right away,” Yarosh said. “This allows even fairly junior students to become co-authors on papers, develop skills over time and understand what it looks like to take a project from beginning to end. In the classroom, my philosophy is that the only way to learn is by talking, writing or actively using knowledge. In-class time is dedicated to getting students to talk to each other and collaborate on activities, rather than a traditional lecture.”

Building on Riedl’s legacy, Yarosh plans to use this award to help students further their own work and pursue additional opportunities to learn, whether that is attending a conference, funding student-led projects, or sponsoring a student over the summer.

“Oftentimes, students will present a project idea that falls outside the scope of one of my active research grants,” Yarosh said. “When that happens, I don’t always have the ability to help with funding. This fellowship will help me green-light more student projects and have the flexibility to say yes when students want to pursue work that furthers their own research identity.” 

Please consider making a gift to support Computer Science & Engineering faculty and students at the University of Minnesota through the John T. Riedl Fellowship for Interactive Intelligent Systems Fund.