Kai Li

Kai Li is a prominent Chinese-American computer scientist and entrepreneur who played a key role in founding Data Domain, a pioneering company in data storage deduplication technology.1 2

Academic Background

Kai Li is a distinguished professor of Computer Science at Princeton University, where he has been a faculty member since 1986.1 2 He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1986, following earlier degrees from Jilin University and the University of Science and Technology of China.1

Research Contributions

Professor Li is renowned for his groundbreaking work in several areas of computer science:

Distributed Shared Memory (DSM): His Ph.D. dissertation in 1986 laid the foundation for this field, enabling shared-memory programming on clusters.1
Parallel and Distributed Systems: He led the SHRIMP project at Princeton, which contributed to the development of Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) technology.1
Machine Learning: Li collaborated on the ImageNet project, which played a crucial role in advancing deep learning.1

Entrepreneurial Achievements

In 2001, Kai Li co-founded Data Domain Corporation, serving in various leadership roles:

Initial CEO: From 2001 to 20021 3
Chief Technology Officer (CTO): In 20021
Chief Scientist: From September 2002 onwards1 3

Data Domain developed the first commercial deduplication storage system, creating a new billion-dollar market segment.1 The company's success led to its acquisition by EMC Corporation in 2009 for $2.4 billion.1 2

Honors and Recognition

Kai Li's contributions to computer science and industry have earned him numerous accolades:

Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 20121 2
IEEE Fellow (2011) and ACM Fellow (1998)1 2
ACM SIGOPS Hall of Fame Award (2012)2

Through his academic research, entrepreneurial ventures, and industry impact, Kai Li has established himself as a leading figure in computer science and data storage technology.