Robert Lee Constable (born 1942) is an American computer scientist. He is a professor of

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

and first and former dean of the Faculty of Computing and Information Science at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. He is known for his work on connecting computer programs and

mathematical proof A mathematical proof is an inferential argument for a mathematical statement, showing that the stated assumptions logically guarantee the conclusion. The argument may use other previously established statements, such as theorems; but every proo ...

s, especially the Nuprl system. Prior to Nuprl, he worked on the PL/CV formal system and verifier.

Alonzo Church Alonzo Church (June 14, 1903 – August 11, 1995) was an American mathematician, computer scientist, logician, philosopher, professor and editor who made major contributions to mathematical logic and the foundations of theoretical computer scien ...

was supervising the junior thesis of Robert while he was studying in

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

. Constable received his PhD in 1968 under

Stephen Kleene Stephen Cole Kleene ( ; January 5, 1909 – January 25, 1994) was an American mathematician. One of the students of Alonzo Church, Kleene, along with Rózsa Péter, Alan Turing, Emil Post, and others, is best known as a founder of the branch of ...

and has supervised over 40 students, including Edmund M. Clarke,

Robert Harper Robert or Bob Harper may refer to: * Robert Almer Harper (1862–1946), American botanist * Robert Goodloe Harper (1765–1825), US senator from Maryland * Robert Harper (fl. 1734–1761), founder of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia * Robert Harper (a ...

Kurt Mehlhorn Kurt Mehlhorn (born 29 August 1949) is a German theoretical computer scientist. He has been a vice president of the Max Planck Society and is director of the Max Planck Institute for Computer Science. Education and career Mehlhorn graduated i ...

, Steven Muchnick, Pavel Naumov, and Ryan Stansifer. He is a

Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

. Constable has been a director of the Marktoberdorf Summer School.

Selected publications

* R. L. Constable and M. J. O'Donnell. ''A Programming Logic'', Winthrop,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

, 1978. * R. L. Constable, S. D. Johnson and C. D. Eichenlaub. ''An Introduction to the PL/CV2 Programming Logic''. In

Lecture Notes in Computer Science ''Lecture Notes in Computer Science'' is a series of computer science books published by Springer Science+Business Media since 1973. Overview The series contains proceedings, post-proceedings, monographs, and Festschrifts. In addition, tutorial ...

135,

Springer-Verlag Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 ...

, 1982 * PRL Group. ''Implementing Mathematics with the Nuprl Proof Development System''. Prentice-Hall, Engelwood Cliffs, NJ, 1986.

References

External links

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at Department of Computing and Information Science, Cornell University * Living people Place of birth missing (living people) University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Cornell University faculty American computer scientists Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery 1942 births {{compu-scientist-stub