Elaine Alice Rich is an American computer scientist, known for her textbooks on

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

and automata theory and for her research on user modeling. She is retired as a distinguished senior lecturer from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

Education and career

Rich is the daughter of applied mathematician Robert Peter Rich. She majored in linguistics and applied mathematics at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

in 1972. She completed her Ph.D. at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

in 1979. Her doctoral dissertation, ''Building and Exploiting User Models'', was supervised by George G. Robertson. She joined the University of Texas at Austin as an assistant professor in 1979, but in 1985 moved to the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) as a researcher in the Human Interface Laboratory and Knowledge-Based Natural Language Project. At MCC she became director of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in 1988. She left MCC in 1993. In 1998 she returned to the University of Texas as an adjunct associate professor, and in 2000 became a senior lecturer. During her time at UT, she developed an interactive textbook, FREGE (Fundamentals of Reasoning for the Electronic Age), which was utilized in a course at the university. She retired from UT at the end of 2016.

Books

Rich is the author of: *''Artificial Intelligence'' (McGraw-Hill, 1983; 2nd ed., with K. Knight, 1991; 3rd. ed, with K. Knight and S. B. Nair, 2009) *''Automata, Computability, and Complexity: Theory and Applications'' (Prentice-Hall, 2008)

Recognition

Rich was named a Fellow of the

Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is an international Learned society, scientific society devoted to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. AAAI also aims to increase public under ...

in 1991.

References

External links

Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rich, Elaine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American computer scientists American women computer scientists Brown University alumni Carnegie Mellon University alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence