Annamaria Szakonyi, PhD

Dr. Annamaria Szakonyi is an educator, technology leader, researcher, published author and speaker, working at the intersection of technology, policy and society. Her passion is in the application of technology, data and policy for the benefit of society, with a focus on raising awareness for cyber safety to protect vulnerable populations in cyberspace. She has over 15 years' experience in the IT and innovation sector, spanning from Fortune 500 corporations to non-profits and higher education institutions in various technical and leadership positions. She's received various distinguished awards and scholarships, such as Saint Louis University's inaugural Geospatial Research and Innovation Award for her research using geospatial methods and machine learning to study human trafficking, the Presidential Scholarship of the Republic of Hungary, Erasmus Scholarship from the European Union, and fellowships from the French Republic and the Hungary-Missouri Educational Partnership. She's published multiple peer-reviewed articles and a book chapter with prestigious publishers such as IEEE and Springer related to human trafficking, data science, cybersecurity, online identity theft, and diversity and inclusion in technology. She's a technology mentor and women in tech advocate on a mission to increase the presence of women and underrepresented groups in technology.