Prior to coming to UT, Aaronson taught for nine years in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department at MIT. As a Schlumberger Centennial Professor at the University of Austin his primary area of research is theoretical computer science, and his interests center around the capabilities and limits of quantum computers, and computational complexity theory more generally.
In 2026 he was awarded with the Inaugural Luca Trevisan Award for Expository Work in Theoretical Computer Science and was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.
As a leading mathematical mind of our time, he has given lectures and published papers on the capabilities and limits of quantum computers, computational complexity theory, as well as his book “Quantum Computing since Democritus“.
You can find out more about Scott’s work on his blog and from his Wikipedia entry.. We also highly recommend the video “From Quantum Computing to AI Safety”.