Sam King Appointed New Director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute at UC Davis
The University of California, Davis, Office of Research is pleased to announce the appointment of Sam King as the new director of the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) at UC Davis, effective April 1, 2025.
King is an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at UC Davis with a track record of translating academic research into successful commercial ventures with societal impact. His industry experience includes key roles with technology leaders like Lyft, Twitter and Stripe.
Throughout his career, King focused on using novel research to solve real-world problems both in academia and industry. Much of his research has been focused on security for web browsers and hardware and applying security principles to stop financial fraud.
King founded two startup companies based on his university research — both resulting in successful acquisitions. One of these companies developed fraud prevention technology that was deployed on over one billion devices with an estimated prevention of over $100 million in fraud losses.
Currently, his research focus is on building trustworthy computer systems for people living with disabilities.
As director of CITRIS UC Davis, King will provide academic and administrative leadership with a focus on facilitating multi-disciplinary research collaborations that maximize opportunities for technological innovation and societal and economic impact.
“We are excited to have Professor King bring such in-depth applied knowledge and experience to lead the UC Davis CITRIS team and continue their impressive trajectory of impact,” said Simon Atkinson, vice chancellor for research at UC Davis.
King will take over the leadership of CITRIS at UC Davis from Saif Islam, who served as director since January 2022. During his tenure as director, Islam helped to create a strong Workforce Innovation Program on the Davis campus and vibrant K-12 outreach programs in partnership with local high schools. Islam and his group were recipients of the Innovation Fellowship and AIC awards and the National Science Foundation’s Experiential Learning for Emerging and Novel Technologies (ExLENT) awards.
About CITRIS
CITRIS and the Banatao Institute leverage the research strengths of the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz, and operate within the greater ecosystem of the University and the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley. We strengthen bridges between world-class laboratory research, state and national policymakers, and companies and startups creating new applications and reshaping entire industries. CITRIS and the Banatao Institute facilitate interdisciplinary work among hundreds of University of California faculty members, students, corporate partners, and international institutions. Together with these public and private partners, we are shaping the future of technology in ways that cross traditional boundaries.
CITRIS and the Banatao Institute at UC Davis builds on the strength and expertise of the research community in engineering, nanoscience, law and medicine to address complex challenges related to food, health, the environment and society.
