Joel Moses
Encyclopedia
Joel Moses is an Israel
i-American
computer scientist
and Institute Professor
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
.
Joel Moses was born in Palestine in 1941 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1954. He attended Midwood High School
in Brooklyn, New York. He received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Columbia University
and a masters degree in Mathematics, also from Columbia. Under the supervision of Marvin Minsky
, Moses received his doctorate in Mathematics at MIT in 1967 with a thesis entitled Symbolic Integration
. This laid the groundwork for the Macsyma
symbolic mathematics program that was created at MIT largely under his supervision between 1969 and 1983. Macsyma was able to solve problems such as simplification, polynomial factorization
, indefinite integration, solution of differential equation
s, and other higher-order mathematical questions.
Moses served in several administrative positions at MIT between 1974 and 1998, including Provost, Dean of Engineering, Head of the EECS department, Associate Head of the EECS department, and Associate Director of the Laboratory for Computer Science. He was Acting Director of the Engineering Systems Division at MIT between 2006 and 2007. He was Acting Director of the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development between 2007 and 2010.
His memoirs are to be found in http://esd.mit.edu/Faculty_Pages/moses/moses_memoirs.pdf
He appears in an independent documentary film called Plug & Pray
, where he talks about the impact of ELIZA
, a famous computer program published by Joseph Weizenbaum
in 1966.
Moses is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
, the Association for Computing Machinery
, the IEEE, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
. Moses holds the rank of Institute Professor at MIT, a rank currently held by only 13 other professors at MIT.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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....
and Institute Professor
Institute Professor
Institute Professor is the highest title that can be awarded to a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States...
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
.
Joel Moses was born in Palestine in 1941 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1954. He attended Midwood High School
Midwood High School
Midwood High School, at Brooklyn College, is a public, urban, co-ed high school located on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn, New York City.Midwood High School was for many years the recipient of multiple accolades because of its competitive educational programs and for the achievements of its students...
in Brooklyn, New York. He received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and a masters degree in Mathematics, also from Columbia. Under the supervision of Marvin Minsky
Marvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...
, Moses received his doctorate in Mathematics at MIT in 1967 with a thesis entitled Symbolic Integration
Symbolic integration
In calculus symbolic integration is the problem of finding a formula for the antiderivative, or indefinite integral, of a given function f, i.e...
. This laid the groundwork for the Macsyma
Macsyma
Macsyma is a computer algebra system that was originally developed from 1968 to 1982 at MIT as part of Project MAC and later marketed commercially...
symbolic mathematics program that was created at MIT largely under his supervision between 1969 and 1983. Macsyma was able to solve problems such as simplification, polynomial factorization
Polynomial factorization
In mathematics and computer algebra, polynomial factorization refers to factoring a polynomial into irreducible polynomials over a given field.-Formulation of the question:...
, indefinite integration, solution of differential equation
Differential equation
A differential equation is a mathematical equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the function itself and its derivatives of various orders...
s, and other higher-order mathematical questions.
Moses served in several administrative positions at MIT between 1974 and 1998, including Provost, Dean of Engineering, Head of the EECS department, Associate Head of the EECS department, and Associate Director of the Laboratory for Computer Science. He was Acting Director of the Engineering Systems Division at MIT between 2006 and 2007. He was Acting Director of the Center for Technology, Policy and Industrial Development between 2007 and 2010.
His memoirs are to be found in http://esd.mit.edu/Faculty_Pages/moses/moses_memoirs.pdf
He appears in an independent documentary film called Plug & Pray
Plug & Pray
Plug & Pray is a 2010 documentary film about the promise, problems and ethics of artificial intelligence and robotics. The main protagonists are the former MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum and the futurist Raymond Kurzweil.- Synopsis :...
, where he talks about the impact of ELIZA
ELIZA
ELIZA is a computer program and an early example of primitive natural language processing. ELIZA operated by processing users' responses to scripts, the most famous of which was DOCTOR, a simulation of a Rogerian psychotherapist. Using almost no information about human thought or emotion, DOCTOR...
, a famous computer program published by Joseph Weizenbaum
Joseph Weizenbaum
Joseph Weizenbaum was a German-American author and professor emeritus of computer science at MIT.-Life and career:...
in 1966.
Moses is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
, the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
, the IEEE, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
. Moses holds the rank of Institute Professor at MIT, a rank currently held by only 13 other professors at MIT.