CleanupBot at 03:06, 17 August 2021

2021-08-17T03:06:47Z

New page

{{Use Indian English|date=August 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| image =
| name = Amit Singhal
| birth_date = {{birth year and age |1968|09}}
| birth_place = [[Jhansi]], [[India]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibnlive.com/news/tech/amit-singhal-from-jhansi-to-google-1198878.html|title=Amit Singhal's journey from Jhansi to Google|publisher=[[CNN-IBN]]|date=4 February 2016}}</ref>
| fields = Information retrieval
| workplaces =
| alma_mater = [[Cornell University]] (PhD,1996) <br> [[University of Minnesota]] (MS,1991) <br> [[Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee|IIT Roorkee]] (BS,1989)
| thesis_title = Term weighting revisited
| thesis_url = http://search.proquest.com/docview/304344927/
| thesis_year = 1997
| doctoral_advisor = [[Claire Cardie]]<ref>{{cite web | title=Alumni by Year | website=Cornell University | url=https://www.cs.cornell.edu/people/students/alumnibyyear | access-date=1 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Abstract/Details | website=ProQuest | url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/304344927/ | access-date=1 October 2015}}</ref> <br> [[Gerard Salton]]<ref>{{cite web | title=acknowledgements in doctoral thesis of Amit Singhal| website=Cornell University | url=https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/7281/97-1626.pdf;jsessionid=F3610A236DC6830534D794903A32343B?sequence=1| access-date=4 February 2016}}</ref>
| awards = Member of [[National Academy of Engineering|NAE]] <br> [[List of Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery|ACM Fellow]]
| website = {{URL|http://singhal.info/}}
}}
'''Amitabh Kumar "Amit" Singhal''' (born September 1968) is a former senior vice president at [[Google Inc.]] having been a Google Fellow and the head of Google's Search team for 15 years.<ref name=bloomberg-interview>[http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/10/google_search_g.html Bloomberg Businessweek's interview with Amit Singhal] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100417023303/http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/10/google_search_g.html |date=17 April 2010 }}</ref><ref name=singhal-knowledge-graph>{{cite news |url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jan/19/google-search-knowledge-graph-singhal-interview |title = Google and the future of search: Amit Singhal and the Knowledge Graph |first = Tim |last = Adams |date = 2013-01-19 |access-date = 2013-01-20 |location = London |work = The Guardian }}</ref> He left Google on 26 February 2016, following sexual harassment allegations.<ref name=retirement>{{cite web |title=Amit Singhal, an Influential Engineer at Google, Will Retire
| website=Cornell University | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/04/technology/amit-singhal-an-influential-engineer-at-google-will-retire.html| access-date=4 February 2016}}</ref>

He joined [[Uber]] as [[Senior Vice President]] of [[software engineering]] in 2017 but was asked to resign for failing to disclose a sexual harassment allegation during his time at Google.<ref name=":0">{{cite news | url=https://www.recode.net/2017/2/27/14745360/amit-singhal-google-uber | title=Uber's SVP of engineering is out after he did not disclose he left Google in a dispute over a sexual harassment allegation | work=[[Recode]] | date=February 27, 2017 | last=Swisher | first=Kara}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/20/uber-hires-former-google-search-chief-amit-singhal-as-svp-of-engineering/|title=Uber hires former Google search chief Amit Singhal as SVP of Engineering|last=Etherington|first=Darrell|website=TechCrunch|access-date=2017-01-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Uber hires Google search veteran Singhal for senior engineering post|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-hire-idUSKBN1542ML|access-date=21 January 2017|work=Reuters|date=20 January 2017}}</ref>

==Biography==
Born in [[Jhansi]], a city in the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]],<ref name="thesis">{{cite thesis | author = Amitabh Kumar Singhal | year = 1997 | title = Term Weighting Revisited | type = PhD | publisher = Cornell University | hdl = 1813/7281 }}</ref> Singhal received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in [[computer science]] from [[IIT Roorkee]] in 1989.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.d.umn.edu/scse/newsandevents/academy/2009.html |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5sw5ppYoQ?url=http://www.d.umn.edu/scse/newsandevents/academy/2009.html |archive-date=2010-09-22 |title=University of Minnesota's page with Amit Singhal biography |access-date=2010-09-22 |url-status=live }}</ref> He continued his computer science education in the [[United States]], and received an [[Master's degree|M.S.]] degree from [[University of Minnesota Duluth]] in 1991.<ref name="umd">{{cite web|url=http://www.d.umn.edu/~tcolburn/newsletter/CS_Newsletter_2007.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5sw5X1ya6?url=http://www.d.umn.edu/~tcolburn/newsletter/CS_Newsletter_2007.pdf |archive-date=2010-09-22 |title=University of Minnesota's newsletter. Alumni spotlight - Amit Singhal. |access-date=2010-09-22 |url-status=live }}</ref> He wrote about his time at the University of Minnesota Duluth:

{{quote|UMD was the turning point in my life. Studying Information Retrieval with Don Crouch and then Don recommending that I move to Cornell to study with Gerard Salton, is the main reason behind my success today. Don gave me the love for search, I have just followed my passion ever since.<ref name="umd" />|Amit Singhal}}

Singhal continued his studies at [[Cornell University]] in [[Ithaca, New York]] and received a [[Ph.D.]] degree in 1996.<ref name="umd" /> At Cornell, Singhal studied with [[Gerard Salton]], a pioneer in the field of [[information retrieval]], the academic discipline which forms the foundation of modern search. John Battelle, in his book "The Search" calls Gerard Salton "the father of digital search." He got interested in the problem of search in 1990 at the University of Minnesota Duluth. After getting a Ph.D. in 1996, Singhal joined [[AT&T Labs]] (previously a part of [[Bell Labs]]), where he continued his research in information retrieval, speech retrieval and other related fields.<ref name="umd" />

==Career==
In 2000, he was recruited by friend [[Krishna Bharat]] to join Google.<ref name="umd" /> Singhal ran Google's core search quality department where he and his team were responsible for the Google search algorithms. According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', Singhal was the "master" of Google's ranking algorithm — the formulas that decide which Web pages best answer each user's question.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/business/yourmoney/03google.html New York Times article by Saul Hansell]</ref> As a reward for his rewrite of the search engine in 2001, Singhal was named a "Google Fellow".<ref>[https://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/02/ff_google_algorithm/all/1 Wired Magazine: Exclusive: How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web]</ref> Singhal served as the head of Google's core search ranking team<ref name=bloomberg-interview/><ref name=singhal-knowledge-graph/> until his retirement announced on 26 February 2016.<ref name=retirement/> It would later transpire that Singhal's departure from Google had occurred after a sexual harassment complaint against him, that an internal review had found "credible".<ref name=":0" />

In 2017, he joined [[Uber]] as SVP of Engineering, reporting to CEO Travis Kalanick, and with his fellow Google alum Kevin Thompson operating as SVP of marketplace engineering.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.techcrunch.com/2017/01/20/uber-hires-former-youtube-exec-kevin-thompson-as-vp-of-marketplace-engineering/|title=Uber hires former YouTube exec Kevin Thompson as VP of Marketplace Engineering|last=Etherington|first=Darrell|website=TechCrunch|access-date=2017-01-20}}</ref> He was asked to leave in February 2017 after it emerged that he had not disclosed to Uber the sexual harassment complaint against him that had been responsible for him leaving Google.<ref name=":0" /> Singhal's departure from Uber came at a time when Uber was receiving criticism and media attention after allegations by former employee [[Susan Fowler]] of a dysfunctional culture of sexual harassment at the company.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://qz.com/920538/uber-fired-svp-of-engineer-amit-singhal-for-covering-up-allegations-of-sexual-harassment/|title = Uber fired a top engineer for covering up allegations of sexual harassment|last = Griswold|first = Alison|date = 27 February 2017|access-date = 3 March 2017|publisher = [[Quartz (publication)|Quartz]]}}</ref>

==Honors and awards==
In 2011 he was inducted as a Fellow of the [[Association for Computing Machinery]].<ref>http://fellows.acm.org/fellow_citation.cfm?id=3910767&srt=year&year=2011</ref><ref name="top50">[http://www.rediff.com/us/amitsinghal_top50.html India Abroad: Top 50 Most Influential Indian Americans - Amit Singhal]</ref>

Fortune named Singhal one of the smartest people in tech.<ref name="fortunetop50">[https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/technology/1007/gallery.smartest_people_tech.fortune/24.html The smartest people in tech - Amit Singhal] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100712083736/https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/technology/1007/gallery.smartest_people_tech.fortune/24.html |date=12 July 2010 }}</ref>

In 2011, Singhal was given the Outstanding Achievement in Science and Technology Award at [[The Asian Awards]].<ref>[http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/media-centre/news/asian-awards Home Secretary celebrates Asian Achievement]</ref>

He was elected Member of the [[National Academy of Engineering]].

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://singhal.info Amit Singhal's homepage]

{{Google Inc.|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singhal, Amit}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota Duluth alumni]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:American Hindus]]
[[Category:Google employees]]
[[Category:Google Fellows]]
[[Category:American businesspeople of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering]]
[[Category:AT&T people]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee alumni]]
[[Category:People from Jhansi]]
[[Category:American software engineers]]
[[Category:Uber people]]

Amit Singhal - Revision history

CleanupBot at 03:06, 17 August 2021