
IN MEMORIAM
It is with great sadness that the Department of Computer Science reports the loss of Dr. Herb Gelernter, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science. Herb, a founding member of the department, passed away May 28, 2015.
Gelernter's research encompassed the areas of theoretical physics, artificial intelligence, expert systems, and machine learning. Gelernter earned his PhD from the University of Rochester in 1957 and was a faculty member at Stony Brook University for over 30 years, from 1966-1997. During his tenure at SBU, his most ambitious effort was the SYNCHEM expert problem-solving system for the discovery of potential routes to the total synthesis of organic molecules through a self-guided intelligent search and application of its large knowledge base of graph transforms, rules and sophisticated heuristics representing organic reactions organized around recognized groups. In 1958, as a pioneer in artificial intelligence, Gelernter teamed with Nathaniel Rochester to consider the case of a machine that can prove theorems in elementary Euclidean plane geometry. In that study, the device relied on rudimentary mathematics and "ingenuity" at the level of a "clever" high school student.
Please use this page to record your fond memories of Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, Herb Gelernter. (Closed for comments)
Comments
Early Memory
Herb will be greatly missed
In Memory
A very sad loss
Prof. Gelernter