David Harel ( he, דוד הראל; born 12 April 1950) is a computer scientist, currently serving as President of the
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He has been on the faculty of the
Weizmann Institute of Science in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
since 1980, and holds the William Sussman Professorial Chair of Mathematics. Born in London, England, he was Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the institute for seven years.
Biography
Harel is best known for his work on
dynamic logic,
computability
Computability is the ability to solve a problem in an effective manner. It is a key topic of the field of computability theory within mathematical logic and the theory of computation within computer science. The computability of a problem is close ...
,
database theory,
software engineering
Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development.
A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
and
modelling biological systems. In the 1980s he invented the graphical language of
Statechart
A state diagram is a type of diagram used in computer science and related fields to describe the behavior of systems. State diagrams require that the system described is composed of a finite number of states; sometimes, this is indeed the case, ...
s for specifying and programming reactive systems, which has been adopted as part of the
UML standard. Since the late 1990s he has concentrated on a scenario-based approach to programming such systems, launched by his co-invention (with W. Damm) of
Live Sequence Charts. He has published expository accounts of computer science, such as his award winning 1987 book "Algorithmics: The Spirit of Computing" and his 2000 book "Computers Ltd.: What They ''Really'' Can’t do", and has presented series on computer science for Israeli radio and television. He has also worked on other diverse topics, such as
graph layout,
computer science education, biological modeling and the analysis and communication of
odors
An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sense ...
.
Harel completed his PhD at
MIT between 1976 and 1978. In 1987, he co-founded the software company
I-Logix
I-Logix was a leading provider of Collaborative Model driven development (MDD) solutions for systems design through software development focused on real-time embedded applications. Founded in 1987, the Andover, Massachusetts-based company product ...
, which in 2006 became part of IBM. He has advocated building a full computer model of the
Caenorhabditis elegans
''Caenorhabditis elegans'' () is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek ''caeno-'' (recent), ''rhabditis'' (ro ...
nematode, which was the first multicellular organism to have its genome completely sequenced. The eventual completeness of such a model depends on his updated version of the
Turing test
The Turing test, originally called the imitation game by Alan Turing in 1950, is a test of a machine's ability to artificial intelligence, exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human. Turing propos ...
. He is a fellow of the
ACM
ACM or A.C.M. may refer to:
Aviation
* AGM-129 ACM, 1990–2012 USAF cruise missile
* Air chief marshal
* Air combat manoeuvring or dogfighting
* Air cycle machine
* Arica Airport (Colombia) (IATA: ACM), in Arica, Amazonas, Colombia
Computing
* ...
, the
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
, the
AAAS
AAAS may refer to:
* American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a learned society and center for policy research; the publisher of the journal ''Dædalus''
* American Association for the Advancement of Science, an organization that supports scientifi ...
, and the
EATCS
The European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS) is an international organization with a European focus, founded in 1972. Its aim is to facilitate the exchange of ideas and results among theoretical computer scientists as well as ...
, and a member of several international academies. Harel is active in a number of peace and human rights organizations in Israel.
Awards and honors
![OO Modeling languages history](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/OO_Modeling_languages_history.jpg)
* 1986
Stevens Award
The Stevens Award is a software engineering lecture award given by the Reengineering Forum, an industry association. The international Stevens Award was created to recognize outstanding contributions to the literature or practice of methods for s ...
for Software Development Methods
* 1992 ACM Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award
[David Harel – Award Winner](_blank)
ACM. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
* 1994
ACM Fellow
* 1995 IEEE Fellow
* 2004
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor.
History
The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...
, for computer science
* 2005 Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Rennes, France
* 2006 ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Research Award
* 2006 Member of the
Academia Europaea[Member profile](_blank)
Academia Europaea. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
* 2006 Doctor (Laura) Honoris Causa,
University of Milano-Bicocca, 18 May 2006
* 2006 Fellow Honoris Causa, Open University of Israel
* 2007
ACM Software System Award
The ACM Software System Award is an annual award that honors people or an organization "for developing a software system that has had a lasting influence, reflected in contributions to concepts, in commercial acceptance, or both". It is awarded b ...
* 2010
Emet Prize
The EMET Prize for Art, Science and Culture is an Israeli prize awarded annually for excellence in academic and professional achievements that have far-reaching influence and make a significant contribution to society.
Prizes are awarded in the fol ...
* 2010 Member of the
Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
* 2012 Doctor Honoris Causa, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
* 2014 International Member of the US
National Academy of Engineering[Member profile](_blank)
National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
* 2014 International Honorary Member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
[Newly elected members](_blank)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, April 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
* 2019 International Member of the US
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
.
* 2020 Fellow of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
(FRS)
*2021 Foreign Member of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
See also
*
List of Israel Prize recipients
This is a complete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 through to 2022.
List
For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize ...
*
Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries in ...
References
External links
David Harels home page at the Weizmann Institute of Science.
David Harels page at the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harel, David
1950 births
Living people
Mathematicians from London
Israeli computer scientists
Israel Prize in computer sciences recipients
Israeli Jews
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery
Fellow Members of the IEEE
Fellows of the Royal Society
Formal methods people
Graph drawing people
Members of Academia Europaea
Systems biologists
Software engineering researchers
Unified Modeling Language
Weizmann Institute of Science faculty
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Engineering
Foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences