Eugenia Rho Professional Headshot

Gilbert Place, 220 Gilbert Street, Blacksburg, VA, 24060

About Me

I'm a Computer Science (CS) professor who studies communication breakdowns, focusing on how people talk to each other and how technology can enhance or disrupt the way we communicate.

My research integrates Natural Language Processing (NLP), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Statistics to study language as a unit of analysis to (1) understand the real-world impact of our words, (2) identify factors that shape our conversations, and (3) explore the role of AI language technologies in enhancing how we communicate and interact with others.

As a Computer Scientist, I’ve always been fascinated by the power of words—how language shapes our thoughts, interactions, and relationships.

At Virginia Tech CS, I lead the Society + AI & Language (SAIL) lab, where I apply and develop NLP pipelines using large language models (LLMs)1,2,3,4,5 to predict conversational trajectories1,2 and outcomes2,3,6. I apply advanced statistics to quantify the real-world impact1,2,3,4,6 of how we communicate across diverse contexts. Leveraging these insights, I use HCI principles and design thinking to build human-centered AI language technologies7,11 that aim to help people understand8,9, anticipate1,3,11, and prevent10,11 communication breakdowns. Collaborating with experts in psychology, public health, law enforcement, and medical practitioners working with autistic clients, I aim to build helpful language technologies that are also ethical and context-sensitive.

My work has been discussed by NPR, CNN, Forbes, PBS, Newsweek, Scripps News, and Scientific American. I have also been invited to speak on major outlets to discuss the significance and broader implications of my research to the public audience.

Before joining Virginia Tech, I was a postdoctoral researcher in the Stanford NLP Group at Stanford Computer Science, working with Dan Jurafsky. I hold a PhD from the School of Information & Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine, and a bachelor’s in Political Science from Columbia University. My industry background includes experiences in tech and management consulting, having worked Meta and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Feel free to check out my CV. I can be reached at eugenia [at] vt [dot] edu if you’d like to collaborate or chat about ideas related to language, data, and technology.

Education

  • Postdoc, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA
  • PhD, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
  • BA, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

Professional Appointments and Affiliations

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Virginia Tech
  • Core Faculty, Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence, Virginia Tech
  • Affiliate Faculty, Center for Autism Research, Virginia Tech
  • Affiliate Faculty, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, Virginia Tech
  • Research Affiliate, SPARQ, Stanford University

Selected Grants, Awards, and Fellowships

  • Designing Large Language Models as a Mental Health Resource for Autistic Adults
    Role: PI; $45,000, World Health Consortium, 2024
  • Enhancing the Privacy of Users with Disabilities Through Transparent Web Advertisement
    Role: Co-PI; $75,000, Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, 2024
  • Integrating Neurodivergence into the STEM Workforce
    Role: Co-PI; $75,000, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 2023
  • Empathy-Driven Human-AI System for Countering Negative-Self Talk for Autistic Adults
    Role: PI; $25,000, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, Virginia Tech, 2023
  • Understanding Linguistic Patterns in COVID-19 Public Health Discourse
    Role: PI; $15,000, Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, Virginia Tech, 2021
  • ACM CHI Best Paper Honorable Mention, 2020
  • Kling Endowed Memorial Fellowship, 2020
  • Doctoral Consortium Fellowship, 2019
  • Roberta Ellen Lamb Memorial Fellowship, 2018

Selected Talks

Publications

[2025f]
Linguistic Determinants of Effective Counterspeech: Strategies for Responding to Online Hate Speech
Buse Carik, Kaike Ping, Xiaohan Ding, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2025 (Under Review).
[2025e]
Xiaohan Ding, Kaike Ping, Uma Sushmitha Gunturi, Buse Carik, Ms Sophia Stil, Lance T Wilhelm, Taufiq Daryanto, Dr James Hawdon, Sang Won Lee, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 2025 (Under Review).
[2025d]
Buse Carik, Kaike Ping, Xiaohan Ding, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP), 2025 (Accepted).
[2025c]
Taufiq Daryanto, Xiaohan Ding, Lance T Wilhelm, Sophia Stil, Kirk Knutsen, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP), 2025 (Accepted).
[2025b]
Perceiving and Countering Hate: The Role of Identity in Online Responses
Kaike Ping, James Hawdon, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW), 2025 (Accepted).
[2025a]
Kaike Ping, Anisha Kumar, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), 2025 (Accepted).
[2024d]
Xiaohan Ding, Buse Carik, Uma Gunturi, Valerie Reyna, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2024.
[2024c]
Mina Lee, Katy Ilonka Gero, John Joon Young Chung, Simon Buckingham Shum, Vipul Raheja, Hua Shen, Subhashini Venugopalan, Thiemo Wambsganss, David Zhou, Emad A. Alghamdi, Tal August, Avinash Bhat, Madiha Zahrah Choksi, Senjuti Dutta, Jin L.C. Guo, Md Naimul Hoque, Yewon Kim, Simon Knight, Seyed Parsa Neshaei, Agnia Sergeyuk, Antonette Shibani, Disha Shrivastava, Lila Shroff, Jessi Stark, Sarah Sterman, Sitong Wang, Antoine Bosselut, Daniel Buschek, Joseph Chee Chang, Sherol Chen, Max Kreminski, Joonsuk Park, Roy Pea, Eugenia H. Rho, Shannon Zejiang Shen, and Pao Siangliulue.
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2024.
[2024b]
Marx B Wang, Md Momen Bhuiyan, Eugenia H. Rho, Kurt Luther, and Sang Won Lee.
ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW), 2024.
[2024a]
Uma Gunturi, Anisha Kumar, Xiaohan Ding, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW), 2024.
[2023d]
Eugenia H. Rho, Maggie Harrington, Yuyang Zhong, Reid Pryzant, Nicholas P. Camp, Dan Jurafsky, and Jennifer L. Eberhardt.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2023.
[2023c]
Xiaohan Ding, Mike Horning, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media (ICWSM), 2023.
[2023b]
Uma Gunturi, Xiaohan Ding, and Eugenia H. Rho†.
Extended Abstract, Workshop on Combating Toxicity, Harassment, and Abuse in Online Social Spaces, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2023.
[2023a]
Rohan Leekha and Eugenia H. Rho†.
Extended Abstract, Workshop on Combating Toxicity, Harassment, and Abuse in Online Social Spaces, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2023.
[2020c]
Eugenia H. Rho and Melissa Mazmanian.
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2020, Best Paper Honorable Mention.
[2020b]
Yao Li, Eugenia H. Rho, and Alfred Kobsa.
Journal of Behavior and Information Technology, 2020.
[2020a]
Eugenia H. Rho.
Position Paper, Doctoral Consortium: Companion Publication of the 2019 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW), 2020.
[2019b]
Eugenia H. Rho and Melissa Mazmanian.
ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW), 2019.
[2019a]
Ted Grover, Elvan Bayraktaroglu, Gloria Mark, and Eugenia Ha Rim Rho.
Journal of Computer Supported Cooperative Work Vol 28, Issue:3-4, 2019, p. 317-355.
[2018d]
Eugenia H. Rho, Gloria Mark, and Melissa Mazmanian.
ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW), 2018.
[2018c]
Eugenia H. Rho, Alfred Kobsa, and Carolyn Nguyen.
Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), 2018.
[2018b]
Krithika Jagannath and Eugenia H. Rho.
Position Paper, Voice-Based Conversational UX Studies and Design Workshop, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2018.
[2018a]
Yao Li and Eugenia H. Rho.
Position Paper, Moving Beyond a “One-Size Fits All” Approach: Exploring Individual Differences in Privacy, ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2018.
[2017b]
Eugenia H. Rho, Oliver L. Haimson, Nazanin Andalibi, Melissa Mazmanian, and Gillian R. Hayes.
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), 2017.
[2017a]
Eugenia H. Rho.
Position Paper, Networked Privacy Workshop, ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW), 2017.

Selected Press

Teaching