Ronald Kaplan
Encyclopedia
Ronald M. Kaplan is Chief Scientist and a Principal Researcher at the Powerset division of Microsoft Bing. He is also a Consulting Professor in the Linguistics Department at Stanford University
and a Principal of Stanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI). He was previously a Research Fellow at the Palo Alto Research Center (formerly the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center), where he was the manager of research in Natural Language Theory and Technology.
He received his Ph.D.
in Social Psychology
from Harvard University
in 1975. As a graduate student he investigated how explicit computational models of grammar
, particularly Augmented Transition Networks
, could be embedded in models of human language performance, and he wrote the grammar for the LUNAR system, the first large-scale ATN grammar of English
. He also developed the notions of consumer-producer and active-chart parsing. He designed (in collaboration with Joan Bresnan
) the formal theory of Lexical Functional Grammar
and produced its initial computational implementation. He developed (with Martin Kay
) the mathematical, linguistic, and computational concepts that underlie the use of finite-state phonological
and morphological
descriptions.
He helped to embed finite-state methods in a wide range of commercial products offered by Xerox and by several Xerox spin-off companies: Microlytics, Inxight
, and Scansoft. In the 1980s he served as Chief Scientist of Microlytics. He holds over 30 patents for inventions in the language technology field.
He is a past President of the Association for Computational Linguistics
(1979), a co-recipient of the 1992 ACM
Software Systems Award for his contribution to the Interlisp
programming system, and a Fellow of the ACM
. During 1995–1996 he was a Fellow-in-Residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
in the Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2006, he was honored with a festschrift
titled Intelligent linguistic architectures: variations on themes by Ronald M. Kaplan, published by CSLI Publications.
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and a Principal of Stanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI). He was previously a Research Fellow at the Palo Alto Research Center (formerly the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center), where he was the manager of research in Natural Language Theory and Technology.
He received his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Social Psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1975. As a graduate student he investigated how explicit computational models of grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
, particularly Augmented Transition Networks
Augmented transition network
An augmented transition network is a type of graph theoretic structure used in the operational definition of formal languages, used especially in parsing relatively complex natural languages, and having wide application in artificial intelligence...
, could be embedded in models of human language performance, and he wrote the grammar for the LUNAR system, the first large-scale ATN grammar of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. He also developed the notions of consumer-producer and active-chart parsing. He designed (in collaboration with Joan Bresnan
Joan Bresnan
Joan Wanda Bresnan is Professor of Linguistics at Stanford University. She is best known as one of the architects of the theoretical framework of Lexical-Functional Grammar....
) the formal theory of Lexical Functional Grammar
Lexical functional grammar
Lexical functional grammar is a grammar framework in theoretical linguistics, a variety of generative grammar. It is a type of phrase structure grammar, as opposed to a dependency grammar. The development of the theory was initiated by Joan Bresnan and Ronald Kaplan in the 1970s, in reaction to...
and produced its initial computational implementation. He developed (with Martin Kay
Martin Kay
Martin Kay is a computer scientist known especially for his work in computational linguistics.Born and raised in the United Kingdom, he received his M.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1961. In 1958 he started to work at the Cambridge Language Research Unit, one of the earliest centers for...
) the mathematical, linguistic, and computational concepts that underlie the use of finite-state phonological
Phonology
Phonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...
and morphological
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
descriptions.
He helped to embed finite-state methods in a wide range of commercial products offered by Xerox and by several Xerox spin-off companies: Microlytics, Inxight
Inxight
Inxight Software, Inc. is a software company specializing in visualization, information retrieval and natural language processing. It was bought by Business Objects in 2007; Business Objects was in turn acquired by SAP AG in 2008. Founded in 1997, Inxight is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California...
, and Scansoft. In the 1980s he served as Chief Scientist of Microlytics. He holds over 30 patents for inventions in the language technology field.
He is a past President of the Association for Computational Linguistics
Association for Computational Linguistics
The Association for Computational Linguistics is the international scientific and professional society for people working on problems involving natural language and computation. An annual meeting is held each summer in locations where significant computational linguistics research is carried out...
(1979), a co-recipient of the 1992 ACM
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...
Software Systems Award for his contribution to the Interlisp
Interlisp
Interlisp was a programming environment built around a version of the Lisp programming language. Interlisp development began in 1967 at Bolt, Beranek and Newman in Cambridge, Massachusetts as BBN LISP, which ran on PDP-10 machines running the TENEX operating system...
programming system, and a Fellow of the ACM
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...
. During 1995–1996 he was a Fellow-in-Residence at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study
The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences in Wassenaar, the Netherlands, is an independent research institute in the field of the humanities and social and behavioural sciences founded in 1970...
in the Humanities and Social Sciences. In 2006, he was honored with a festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
titled Intelligent linguistic architectures: variations on themes by Ronald M. Kaplan, published by CSLI Publications.
External links
- ACM Award for Interlisp http://awards.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=5323772&srt=all&aw=149&ao=SOFTWSYS
- Intelligent Linguistic Architectures CSLI book about Kaplan's work.
- PARC webpage http://www2.parc.com/istl/members/kaplan/