Gerald Penn is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, and a Fellow of Computer Science at St. Michael's College. His research interests are spoken language processing and computational linguistics. He is a senior member of IEEE and AAAI, and a past recipient of the Ontario Early Researcher Award. His joint work with Geoffrey Hinton and Hui Jiang on signal processing with neural networks revolutionized acoustic modelling for speech recognition systems, and received the IEEE Signal Processing Society's Best Paper Award. He has led numerous research projects, including those funded by Avaya, Bell Canada, CAE, the Connaught Fund, Microsoft, NSERC, the German Ministry for Training and Research, SMART Technologies, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Founded in 1827, the University of Toronto is ranked consistently among the world’s best universities for research, teaching and innovation. Its three campuses unite top minds from every conceivable background and discipline to collaborate on pressing global challenges. The university’s community is a catalyst for discovery, innovation and progress, creating knowledge and solutions that make a tangible difference worldwide. The University of Toronto Department of Computer Science is a hub of innovation in the field, and home to nearly 100 faculty, more than 2,500 undergraduates and over 450 graduate students. Since 1964, the department has provided students and external partners with opportunities to engage in cutting-edge and collaborative research that addresses the biggest technological challenges of the day, spanning the physical sciences, engineering, medicine, commerce and the arts. Its award-winning faculty are recognized internationally and are renowned for their commitment to research and teaching. The department is home to two Turing Award winners and to members of acclaimed computing societies, including five ACM fellows and seven Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada. The Department continues to be globally recognized for its strong academic programs, teaching, and research that push the boundaries of computer science discovery and innovation.