Patrick Winston
Encyclopedia
Patrick Henry Winston is an American
computer scientist
, and is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
. Winston was director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory from 1972 to 1997, succeeding Marvin Minsky
, who left to found the MIT Media Lab
and succeeded by Rodney Brooks
. Brooks later merged the lab with the MIT Lab for Computer Science, forming the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
(CSAIL).
Winston's thesis work with Marvin Minsky
concerned the difficulty of learning; he concluded it was only possible to learn something one nearly already knows. He is active in research and interested in machine learning
and human intelligence. Winston also teaches "The Human Intelligence Enterprise" course which covers AI and effective communicate strategies. Winston is known within the MIT community for his strong commitment to supporting MIT undergraduate culture. He is also an avid woodworker having made all the furniture in his office.
Winston currently teaches 6.034: Artificial Intelligence and 6.803/6.833: Human Intelligence Enterprise. Winston is also a (co-)author of a number of CS and AI textbooks, including:
He is also an alumnus of the Mass Gamma chapter of Phi Delta Theta
.
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 is a professor 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...
. Winston was director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory from 1972 to 1997, succeeding 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:...
, who left to found the MIT Media Lab
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a laboratory of MIT School of Architecture and Planning. Devoted to research projects at the convergence of design, multimedia and technology, the Media Lab has been widely popularized since the 1990s by business and technology publications such as Wired and Red Herring for a...
and succeeded by Rodney Brooks
Rodney Brooks
Rodney Allen Brooks is the former Panasonic professor of robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 1986 he has authored a series of highly influential papers which have inaugurated a fundamental shift in artificial intelligence research...
. Brooks later merged the lab with the MIT Lab for Computer Science, forming the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology formed by the 2003 merger of the Laboratory for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory...
(CSAIL).
Winston's thesis work with 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:...
concerned the difficulty of learning; he concluded it was only possible to learn something one nearly already knows. He is active in research and interested in machine learning
Machine learning
Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is a scientific discipline concerned with the design and development of algorithms that allow computers to evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from sensor data or databases...
and human intelligence. Winston also teaches "The Human Intelligence Enterprise" course which covers AI and effective communicate strategies. Winston is known within the MIT community for his strong commitment to supporting MIT undergraduate culture. He is also an avid woodworker having made all the furniture in his office.
Winston currently teaches 6.034: Artificial Intelligence and 6.803/6.833: Human Intelligence Enterprise. Winston is also a (co-)author of a number of CS and AI textbooks, including:
- Artificial Intelligence
- The Psychology of Computer Vision
- Lisp (with Berthold K. P. Horn)
- On to C
- On to C++
- On to Java (with Sundar Narasimhan)
- On to Smalltalk
He is also an alumnus of the Mass Gamma chapter of Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta
Phi Delta Theta , also known as Phi Delt, is an international fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad. The fraternity has about 169 active chapters and colonies in over 43 U.S...
.
External links
- Personal homepage
- Patrick Winston: How to Speak
- Oral History with Patrick H. Winston, Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.