David Harel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Harel
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David Harel (right) with Carl Hewitt at FLoC 2006
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| Born | 12 April 1950 London, England, UK
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| Nationality | Israeli and British |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer Science |
| Institutions | Weizmann Institute |
| Thesis | Logics of Programs: Axiomatics and Descriptive Power (1978) |
| Doctoral advisor | Vaughan Pratt |
| Doctoral students | David Peleg |
David Harel (born April 12, 1950) is a famous computer scientist. He was born in London, England. He is currently the President of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Since 1980, he has taught at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He holds a special teaching position there in Mathematics. He also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science for seven years.
Contents
About David Harel's Work
David Harel is well-known for his work in several areas of Computer Science. These include how computers think (computability) and how they store information (database theory). He also works on making computer programs better (software engineering).
He is famous for inventing a visual language called Statecharts in the 1980s. This language helps people design and program systems that react to things. Statecharts became part of a common standard called UML.
Later, he focused on a new way to program these systems using scenarios. He helped create something called Live Sequence Charts.
Harel has also written books to explain computer science to everyone. One of his award-winning books is "Algorithmics: The Spirit of Computing." He also presented computer science topics on Israeli radio and TV.
His work also covers other interesting areas. He has studied how to arrange diagrams (graph layout). He also works on teaching computer science and understanding biological systems. He even looked into how we analyze and communicate smells.
His Journey and Achievements
David Harel earned his PhD degree from MIT between 1976 and 1978. In 1987, he helped start a software company called I-Logix. This company later became part of IBM in 2006.
He has also supported building a complete computer model of a tiny worm called Caenorhabditis elegans. This worm was the first multi-celled animal to have all its genes mapped out.
Harel is a member of many important groups. These include the ACM and the IEEE. He is also active in groups that work for peace and human rights in Israel.
Awards and Special Recognitions
David Harel has received many awards and honors for his important contributions to computer science.
- 1986 Stevens Award for Software Development Methods
- 1992 ACM Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award
- 1994 ACM Fellow
- 1995 IEEE Fellow
- 2004 Israel Prize, which is one of Israel's highest honors, for computer science
- 2005 Honorary Doctor's Degree from the University of Rennes, France
- 2006 ACM SIGSOFT Outstanding Research Award
- 2006 Member of the Academia Europaea
- 2006 Honorary Doctor's Degree from the University of Milano-Bicocca
- 2006 Honorary Fellow of the Open University of Israel
- 2007 ACM Software System Award
- 2010 Emet Prize
- 2010 Member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
- 2012 Honorary Doctor's Degree from Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands
- 2014 International Member of the US National Academy of Engineering
- 2014 International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2019 International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences
- 2020 Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), a very old and respected scientific academy in the UK
- 2021 Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
- 2023 Harlan D. Mills Award
See also
- List of Israel Prize recipients
- Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
