Naina Balepur
Incoming Assistant Instructional Professor of Data Science at the University of Chicago
Hi! I just completed my Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where I was advised by professor Hari Sundaram. In September, I’ll be joining the Data Science Institute at the University of Chicago as an Assistant Instructional Professor. I’m committed to inclusive and transparent teaching, and will be teaching in the areas of Intro Data Science, Data Visualization, and Software Engineering.
My Ph.D. work was at the intersection of social network analysis and game theory, with a focus on understanding human decision-making through modeling and simulation. I spent the last year of my Ph.D. interviewing local community members to develop a contextualized model of institutional trust. My research falls into two areas:
- Modeling trust between communities and large institutions, and designing interventions to increase that trust.
- Designing fairness-promoting systems that users are incentivized to participate in.
And if you’re confused, maybe you’re looking for my brother 
news
| May 08, 2026 | I successfully defended my thesis! |
|---|---|
| May 05, 2026 | I earned both the Graduate Teacher and Dr. Sandra J. Finley Teacher Scholar Certificates. |
| Apr 16, 2026 | Our paper was accepted to ACM FAccT ‘26! |
| Sep 09, 2025 | I made it onto the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students for instructing in Summer 2025! |
| May 06, 2025 | I passed my preliminary exam!  |