About Becca

Rebecca Willett Headshot

Erielle Bakkum Photography

 

Becca’s research is focused on machine learning foundations, scientific machine learning, and signal processing. Her work in machine learning and signal processing reflects broad and interdisciplinary expertise and perspectives. She is known internationally for her contributions to the mathematical foundations of machine learning, large-scale data science, and computational imaging. Her research focuses on developing the mathematical and statistical foundations of machine learning and scientific machine learning methodology. In addition to her technical contributions, Prof. Willett is a strong advocate for diversity in STEM and AI.

She received the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2007, was a DARPA Computer Science Study Group member, and received an Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program award in 2010. She completed her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University in 2005. She was an Assistant and then tenured Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University from 2005 to 2013. She was an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Harvey D. Spangler Faculty Scholar, and Fellow of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2013 to 2018.

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