Cleotilde Gonzalez
Professor, Social & Decision Sciences
Cleotilde (Coty) Gonzalez is a professor of decision sciences, the founding director of the Dynamic Decision Making Laboratory (DDMLab), and the research co-director of the NSF National Institute for AI for Societal Decision Making (AI-SDM) at Carnegie Mellon University. Gonzalez’s main affiliation is with the Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS). She is also affiliated to the Security and Privacy Institute (CyLab), the Societal Computing program in the Software and Societal Systems Department (S3D), the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) in the School of Computer Science at CMU; and with the Center for Behavioral Decision Research (CBDR), the Center for Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), and other units at Carnegie Mellon University.
Gonzalez is a 2024 AAAS Fellow and the 15th faculty member from Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences to be elected a fellow of AAAS. She is also a lifetime Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. She is also a member of the governing board of the Cognitive Science Society, a Member at Large of the Policy Council of the System Dynamics Society, and a committee member of the National Academies Division Committee for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE). Gonzalez is senior editor for Topics in Cognitive Science, consulting editor for Decision, consulting editor for Psychological Review, and associate editor for the System Dynamics Review. She is also a member of multiple other editorial boards including: Cognitive Science, Perspectives on Psychological Science, and others.
Gonzalez’s work focuses on the experimental studies and computational representations of the cognitive processes involved in decisions from experience in dynamic environments. She is widely published across many fields deriving from her contributions to cognitive science. Her work includes the development of a theory of decisions from experience called Instance-Based Learning Theory (IBLT), from which many computational models have emerged in areas as diverse as: cybersecurity, network science, human-machine teaming, and others. She has been principal or co-investigator on a wide range of multi-million and multi-year collaborative efforts with government and industry, including current efforts on Collaborative Research Alliances (CRA) and Multi-University Research Initiative grants from the Army Research Laboratories (ARL) and Army Research Office (ARO) and large collaborative projects with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She has mentored more than 50 post-doctoral fellows and doctoral students, many of whom have pursued successful careers in academia, government, and industry.
Gonzalez is an avid painter and biker, activities that she enjoys in her free time. For her full CV and more information see her personal webpage.
Education
1996 Ph.D. Management Information Systems, Texas Tech University
1992 M.Sc. Management Information System, Texas Tech University
1990 M.B.A. Business, Universidad de las Americas-Puebla
1986 B.Sc. Business & Engineering, Universidad de las Americas-Puebla
Research Interests
Media mentions
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
CyLab awards 2026 seed funding
This year, CyLab awarded nearly $500,000 in seed funding to 10 research projects featuring CMU students, faculty, and staff PIs representing nine departments at the university.
Carnegie Bosch Institute
Meet Jinfeng Lou, CBI fellow addressing urban challenges
As a new CBI fellow, Jinfeng Lou, hopes to on creating robust, adaptable models that incorporate real-time data from sensors, environmental indicators, and human behavior during emergencies such as subway flooding.
Carnegie Bosch Institute
Cross-departmental faculty collaboration with CBI Fellow
Faculty members Pingbo Tang and Cleotilde Gonzalez are working together with CBI Fellow Jinfeng Lou to help solve subway flooding in urban areas using AI and human solutions.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
CyLab researchers awarded MURI grant to study human-bot teams
Lujo Bauer, Matt Fredrikson, and Cleotilde Gonzalez are part of a team of researchers that was named a winner of a prestigious US Department of Defense (DoD) Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) Award.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Phishing, fairness, and more: CyLab’s 2021 seed funding awardees
Over $350K in seed funding has been awarded to 14 different faculty and staff in seven different departments across three colleges at CMU.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Gonzalez named 2021 Fellow of Cognitive Science Society
The Cognitive Science Society announced seven research scientists, including CyLab’s Cleotilde Gonzalez, as 2021 Fellows. Gonzalez joins a selected group of 120 researchers, who have been recognized for their sustained excellence and impact on the cognitive science community.
CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
Cyber defense is an art in human deception
CyLab's Coty Gonzalez and her research group presented two studies on cyber deception at this week’s Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual meeting. CyLab director Lorrie Cranor gave the meeting’s keynote talk.