Joshua Alele-Beals, PhD in Computer Science, 2026
I am deeply honored and grateful to receive the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship from the Graduate School. I sincerely thank the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel for this generous support. I am especially grateful to my advisor, Dr. Charles Wallace, whose mentorship has continually challenged me to think more critically, ask better questions, and pursue research that is both rigorous and meaningful. I also thank my dissertation committee and the Department of Computer Science for their guidance and encouragement throughout my doctoral journey.
I have always been fascinated by using computer science to make complex systems easier for people to understand. That curiosity led me to pursue research in formal methods, where I explore how rigorous computational models can improve the way people interact with statutory law.
Using Michigan’s Clean Slate Law as a case study, my dissertation develops formal representations of statutory law that capture legal requirements with mathematical precision. Building on these models, I created interactive tools that allow users to evaluate expungement eligibility, explore “”what-if”” scenarios, and better understand how the law applies to their circumstances. More recently, I have explored how artificial intelligence can make these tools more accessible by translating natural language into formal queries and generating user-friendly explanations, while the underlying formal model performs all legal reasoning. Through this work, I hope to help expand access to justice by making legal information easier to understand without compromising accuracy.
My time at Michigan Tech has also allowed me to grow as a teacher, researcher, and software engineer. Teaching undergraduate computer science courses and collaborating with faculty and students have reinforced my belief that the best research should not only advance knowledge but also improve people’s lives. I am excited to continue exploring how formal methods can make complex systems more understandable and accessible, wherever they are needed most.