Most of my research has been on
cryptography,
the mathematical treatment of secure communication.
I did my undergrad at UC Berkeley
and my Ph.D. at
MIT, in the
Theory of Computation group,
where I studied under
Silvio Micali.
After graduating I worked at
IBM as a security architect (1991),
then came to UCD (1994), where I’ve been a professor ever since.
Still, for a long time I managed to split my time about equally between the USA and Thailand.
My research has focused on obtaining
provably good solutions to protocol problems of utility to
people’s privacy and security.
I’ve been lucky enough
to get some nice recognition for this work, including the
Levchin prize (2016),
PET Award (2015),
IACR Fellow (2012),
ACM Paris Kanellakis Award (2009),
and the
RSA Award in Mathematics (2003).
In recent years I have grown increasingly skeptical of
the claimed benefits of CS,
which routinely seem dwarfed by the harms we help cause.
Correspondingly, I have shifted much of my attention to social and ethical issues
connected to technology, especially
the climate crisis and the
problem of mass surveillance.
I also shifted much of my university teaching to ethics
(course ECS 188).
I support social justice and environmental movements including
XR,
BLM, and
BDS.
I will retire from UCD in July of 2024, spending my last term
teaching a course on cryptography and
an experimental course on
Black Mirror.
I am sad to leave UCD,
and am especially reluctant to stop teaching.
But my views have drifted from those of my colleagues
to the point where it had become uncomfortable to continue where I was.
Perhaps I will find a teaching-oriented position in BC.
Personal information: my wife is Bongkotrattana Lailert.
She goes by Kot.
My son,
Banlu Rogaway,
age 14, loves rock climbing. He
competes, too.
I myself have lived in many countries around the world,
but have spent the most time in Thailand and the USA.
For the last few years, as my mother’s health declined,
I split my time between Davis, California and Portland, Oregon.
My sister, Jodi Walder, also lives in Portland.
She is amazing at helping students
navigate college admissions.
After saying by goodbyes to UCD, my family and I are likely to split our time
between the USA (California, Oregon),
Canada (BC), and
Thailand (Phuket, Phrae, Krabi).
