Summary:
- Professor Aggelos Kiayias, chief scientist at Input | Output, named 2025 ACM Fellow
- ACM Fellows are selected by peers and represent approximately 1% of global memberships
- This is a recognition for a lifetime of work in cybersecurity and cryptography
Input Output Research (IOR) is pleased to announce that Professor Aggelos Kiayias, chief scientist at Input Output (IO) and Chair in Cyber Security and Privacy at the University of Edinburgh, was named a 2025 Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), one of the highest honors in computer science.
Founded in 1947, the ACM is the foremost learned society dedicated to the scientific and educational evolution of computing. It acts as the authoritative global platform for computer scientists, researchers, and industry professionals.
Elite grade of membership
The elite grade of ACM Fellow is a distinction reserved for the top 1% of global memberships, and reflects a lifetime rank for researchers. ACM Fellows are selected by their peers and are recognized for remarkable and lasting contributions to computer research and practice.
This recognition marks a monumental academic achievement in the career of Professor Kiayias, who is being recognised for his outstanding contributions across cybersecurity and cryptography. His lifetime of work spans privacy, distributed systems, electronic voting, secure multiparty computation, and blockchain technologies – all helping to bridge foundational research with real-world systems that matter.
Contributions and global impact
Professor Kiayias is cited for his groundbreaking research at the intersection of applied and foundational cryptography, including areas such as:
- Consensus foundations: establishing the formal security proofs for decentralized protocols, most notably the Ouroboros family of proof-of-stake protocols
- Rational cryptography: integrating game-theoretic analysis into protocol design to ensure resilience against self-interested or adversarial actors
- Resilient infrastructure: advancing the state of the art in secure multiparty computation (MPC), electronic voting, and privacy-preserving identity management
- Distributed systems: bridging the gap between abstract cryptographic theory and the engineering requirements of global-scale distributed ledgers
Steering the peer-reviewed scientific approach
At IO, achieving the full potential and scalability of blockchain technology is driven by foundations built on rigorous, peer-reviewed science. Professor Kiayias has been one of the architects of that philosophy from the beginning. From his groundbreaking work on the Ouroboros consensus protocol to his leadership at the University of Edinburgh’s Blockchain Technology Laboratory, his contributions have redefined how we think about decentralized security, pioneered new methods for electronic voting and privacy management, and unified theoretical cryptography and real-world scalability.
Professor Kiayias’ elevation to ACM Fellow reinforces a core tenet of the IO philosophy: that the resilient systems of the future must be built upon a bedrock of peer-reviewed science. By prioritizing formal methods, IO has ensured that its protocols are not only innovative but also provably secure.
This recognition from the ACM serves as a definitive validation of this research-led approach. It demonstrates that the work being done at the University of Edinburgh’s Blockchain Technology Laboratory and within IO’s research department is setting the global standard for the next generation of digital infrastructure.
A legacy of academic leadership
This elevation follows a series of prestigious distinctions, including the 2024 BCS Lovelace Medal and his election to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. As director of the Blockchain Technology Laboratory at the University of Edinburgh, Professor Kiayias continues to spearhead research that ensures the decentralized systems of the future are built upon a cornerstone of peer-reviewed science.
For the IO community, this recognition reaffirms our commitment to a research-led development philosophy. We congratulate Professor Kiayias on this definitive milestone in a distinguished career. He will be formally recognized at the ACM awards in San Francisco in June 2026.
