Alain Colmerauer
Encyclopedia
Alain Colmerauer is a French
computer scientist
.
After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Grenoble, he spent 1967–1970 as Assistant Professor at the University of Montreal, where he created Q-Systems
, one of the earliest linguistic formalisms used in the development of the TAUM-METEO machine translation
prototype.
language Prolog
. In 1984, he created the company PrologIA to exploit the development of Prolog III. He is also one of the main founders of the field of Constraint logic programming.
Alain Colmerauer moved to the University II of Aix-Marseille at Luminy in 1970 as Professeur 2ème classe (Associate Professor). He was promoted in 1979 to Professeur 1ère classe (Full Professor), and in 1988 to Professeur classe exceptionnelle (University Professor). In 2000 he became Professeur classe exceptionnelle at the Faculty of Sciences of Luminy, University II of Aix-Marseille, Institut Universitaire de France, becoming Emeritus Professor in 2006. From 1993 to 1995, he was Head of the Laboratoire d’Informatique de Marseille (LIM), a joint laboratory of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the University de Provence and the University de la Mediterranee.
. In 1986, he was made Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the French government. He became Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence in 1991, and received the ACP Research Excellence Award, Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming in 2008. He is also a Correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences
in the area of Mathematics.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
.
After completing his Ph.D. at the University of Grenoble, he spent 1967–1970 as Assistant Professor at the University of Montreal, where he created Q-Systems
Q-systems
Q-Systems are a method of directed graph transformations according to given grammar rules, developed at the Université de Montréal by Alain Colmerauer in 1967--70 for use in natural language processing...
, one of the earliest linguistic formalisms used in the development of the TAUM-METEO machine translation
Machine translation
Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another.On a basic...
prototype.
Career
Alain Colmerauer is the creator of the logic programmingLogic programming
Logic programming is, in its broadest sense, the use of mathematical logic for computer programming. In this view of logic programming, which can be traced at least as far back as John McCarthy's [1958] advice-taker proposal, logic is used as a purely declarative representation language, and a...
language Prolog
Prolog
Prolog is a general purpose logic programming language associated with artificial intelligence and computational linguistics.Prolog has its roots in first-order logic, a formal logic, and unlike many other programming languages, Prolog is declarative: the program logic is expressed in terms of...
. In 1984, he created the company PrologIA to exploit the development of Prolog III. He is also one of the main founders of the field of Constraint logic programming.
Alain Colmerauer moved to the University II of Aix-Marseille at Luminy in 1970 as Professeur 2ème classe (Associate Professor). He was promoted in 1979 to Professeur 1ère classe (Full Professor), and in 1988 to Professeur classe exceptionnelle (University Professor). In 2000 he became Professeur classe exceptionnelle at the Faculty of Sciences of Luminy, University II of Aix-Marseille, Institut Universitaire de France, becoming Emeritus Professor in 2006. From 1993 to 1995, he was Head of the Laboratoire d’Informatique de Marseille (LIM), a joint laboratory of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, the University de Provence and the University de la Mediterranee.
Honors and awards
In 1982, Alain Colmerauer shared with Henry Kanoui and Michel Van Caneghem la Pomme d’Or du Logiciel Francais, an award from Apple France for the Prolog II implementation. In 1984, he received an award by the Conseil Regional of Provence, Alpes and Côte d’Azur, and in 1985 the Michel Monpetit Award, from the French Academy of SciencesFrench Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
. In 1986, he was made Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the French government. He became Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence in 1991, and received the ACP Research Excellence Award, Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming in 2008. He is also a Correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of Sciences is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research...
in the area of Mathematics.