Han Shao

Hi! I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Maryland, College Park. Previously, I was a CMSA postdoc at Harvard, working with Cynthia Dwork and Ariel Procaccia. I did my PhD at TTIC, advised by Avrim Blum.

My research interests span machine learning theory, economics and computation, and algorithmic game theory. I work on both the theoretical foundations of machine learning and problems related to human–AI interaction and the economic phenomena that arise from it. Recently, I'm very interested in the theoretical foundations of AI evaluation. See a recent work for example.

Prospective students: I am recruiting PhD students for Fall 2026. You are welcome to apply to the UMD CS PhD program and mention me as a faculty of interest.

I also welcome motivated undergraduate and master's students interested in research. If you are at UMD and hope to work with me, I strongly recommend taking my courses. See information for prospective students for details.

Email: hanshao@umd.edu

Recent news

Jun 29, 2026: I'm co-organizing the workshop Learning in an Agentic World: Foundations and Challenges at COLT 2026 (with Hedyeh Beyhaghi, Avrim Blum, and Dravyansh Sharma). We invite abstract submissions!
Apr 16, 2026: I gave a talk on A Theoretical Framework for Statistical Evaluability of Generative Models at Agency in Collaborative Learning Workshop. Videos are available here.
Mar 17-Apr 18, 2026: I'm visiting Simons Institute for Federated and Collaborative Learning program as a long-term participant. Come say hi if you are around!
Jan 29, 2026: Praneeth and I are giving a tutorial on Incentives for collaborative learning and data sharing at Simons Institute as part of Federated and Collaborative Learning program. Videos are available here.
Dec 3-6, 2025: I'll be attending NeurIPS in SD!
Nov 12, 2025: I'll be giving a talk at JHU CS theory seminar.
Oct 17, 2025: I'll be giving a talk at the UMD CS department seminar on Probably Approximately Precision and Recall Learning.
Summer 2025: I'm co-organizing the workshops on Reliable and Responsible Foundation Models (ICML) and Incentives for Collaborative Learning and Data Sharing (TTIC, August 13–15). Please come by!
July 2025: I've moved to College Park! Come say hi if you're in the DC area.

Teaching

CMSC848P (Fall 26) Machine Learning Theory
CMSC498W (Spring 26) Economics and Computation
CMSC848P (Fall 25) Machine Learning Theory

Students

Shashaank Aiyer (2025-)
Connie Hong (2026-)

Contact

Email: hanshao@umd.edu
Office: IRB 5132