Biography
Mark A. Finlayson is Associate Professor of Computer Science and Associate Director for Research & Academic Affairs in the Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences (KFSCIS) at Florida International University (FIU). His research intersects natural language processing, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and computational linguistics. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in computer science in 2012 under the supervision of Patrick H. Winston. He also holds the M.S. in Electrical Engineering from MIT (2001) and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (1998). Finlayson served as a research scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory for 2½ years before coming to FIU and served as the KFSCIS Interim Associate Director between Fall 2020 and Spring 2022. Finlayson is a recipient of an NSF CAREER Award (2018), an IBM Faculty Award (2019),a DARPA Young Faculty Award (2021), and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE; 2025), awarded by the Biden Whitehouse. He has also served as the Edison Fellow for AI at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from 2019-2024. Finlayson received FIU’s university-wide Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities (2019), a university-wide Top Scholar Award for Teaching and Mentoring (2018), and departmental awards for Excellence in Service (2016), Teaching (2018), Fundamental Research (2019), and Mentoring (2021). His work has been funded by NSF, NIH, ONR, DARPA, DHS, DOT, MITRE, and IBM.
Awards & Honors
- January, 2025 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists & Engineers (PECASE)
- Fall 2021 DARPA Young Faculty Award
- Fall 2021 Excellence in Mentoring, Faculty Award, Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences
- Fall 2020 Eminent Scholar Chaired Associate Professor of Computer Science
- Fall 2020 Excellence in Fundamental Research, Faculty Award, School of Computing and Information Sciences
- Spring 2019 Edison Fellowship for AI
- Spring 2019 IBM Faculty Award
- Summer 2018 NSF CAREER Award
- Fall 2019 Eminent Scholar Chaired Assistant Professor of Computer Science
- Fall 2019 Excellence in Research and Creative Activities, Faculty Award, Florida International University
- Spring 2018 FIU Top Scholar for Teaching and Mentoring, Junior Faculty with Notable Gains in Student Learning and Success, Sciences
- Fall 2018 Excellence in Teaching, Faculty Award, School of Computing and Information Sciences
- Fall 2016 Excellence in Service, Faculty Award, School of Computing and Information Sciences
Education
- Ph.D., MIT, 2012
- M.S., MIT, 2001
- B.S., University of Michigan, 1998