Rice professor receives high honors
Dr. Moshe Y. Vardi, the Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service professor in computational engineering and director of the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology at Rice University, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
The Doctor Honoris Causa degree honors Vardi for his “exceptional contributions, influence and worldwide research leadership in computer science,” and singles out his research in “logical theory of databases, reasoning about knowledge, the automata-theoretic approach to program verification and finite model theory.”
A ceremony conferring the honor was held earlier this summer at the Institute of Informatics at UFRGS. While at the university, Vardi delivered two lectures: “If Machines Are Capable of Doing Almost Any Work Humans Can Do, What Will Humans Do?” and “P vs. NP.”
Vardi earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1981 and joined the Rice faculty in 1993.
His research interests include applications of logic to computer science, including database systems, computational complexity theory, multi-agent systems and specification and verification of hardware and software. He is the author or co-author of more than 500 technical articles and of two books, “Reasoning about Knowledge” and “Finite Model Theory and Its Applications.”
Vardi is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europea. When he was elected to the National Academy of Science earlier this year, Vardi joined an elite group of scientists who have been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine are private, nonprofit membership organizations that elect the country’s leading scientists, engineers and medical professionals and engage in a wide variety of activities to advance research and knowledge in science, engineering and medicine. Fewer than 5 percent of National Academies members belong to more than one Academy.
Among Vardi’s prior honors are the Southeastern Universities Research Association’s 2013 Distinguished Scientist Award, the 2011 IEEE Computer Society Harry H. Goode Award, the 2008 Blaise Pascal Medal for Computer Science by the European Academy of Sciences and the 2000 Goedel Prize for outstanding papers in the area of theoretical computer science.
Vardi resides in Bellaire, Texas, with his wife, Pam Geyer. They are members of Congregation Brith Shalom.
The Doctor Honoris Causa degree honors Vardi for his “exceptional contributions, influence and worldwide research leadership in computer science,” and singles out his research in “logical theory of databases, reasoning about knowledge, the automata-theoretic approach to program verification and finite model theory.”
A ceremony conferring the honor was held earlier this summer at the Institute of Informatics at UFRGS. While at the university, Vardi delivered two lectures: “If Machines Are Capable of Doing Almost Any Work Humans Can Do, What Will Humans Do?” and “P vs. NP.”
Vardi earned his Ph.D. in computer science from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1981 and joined the Rice faculty in 1993.
His research interests include applications of logic to computer science, including database systems, computational complexity theory, multi-agent systems and specification and verification of hardware and software. He is the author or co-author of more than 500 technical articles and of two books, “Reasoning about Knowledge” and “Finite Model Theory and Its Applications.”
Vardi is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the European Academy of Sciences and the Academia Europea. When he was elected to the National Academy of Science earlier this year, Vardi joined an elite group of scientists who have been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine are private, nonprofit membership organizations that elect the country’s leading scientists, engineers and medical professionals and engage in a wide variety of activities to advance research and knowledge in science, engineering and medicine. Fewer than 5 percent of National Academies members belong to more than one Academy.
Among Vardi’s prior honors are the Southeastern Universities Research Association’s 2013 Distinguished Scientist Award, the 2011 IEEE Computer Society Harry H. Goode Award, the 2008 Blaise Pascal Medal for Computer Science by the European Academy of Sciences and the 2000 Goedel Prize for outstanding papers in the area of theoretical computer science.
Vardi resides in Bellaire, Texas, with his wife, Pam Geyer. They are members of Congregation Brith Shalom.
SPECIAL SECTION
JHV COLUMNISTS