UC Berkeley School of Information

Hal R. Varian, former dean of the UC Berkeley School of Information and professor emeritus, has been named a 2026 Citation Laureate, an annual award that recognizes influential researchers considered likely to win the Nobel Prize in their field. Citation Laureates identify researchers whose work is of Nobel class and have made pioneering contributions that continue to shape science and society. Since the program's inception in 1989, 89 Citation Laureates have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes.

A first-of-its-kind project at UC Berkeley is using AI and data science to help untangle this national patchwork by collecting every digitally accessible law in a free, open-access database. Led by Prof. Diag Davenport and Bellwether Postdoctoral Scholar Denis Peskoff, this project marks the first time such a database has existed specifically for local laws. The existence of the new resource opens the door for others to generate custom databases and local chatbots that can quickly generate comparisons of local laws on topics spanning home construction to dog leash laws.