Jim Horning facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jim Horning
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| Born | August 24, 1942 |
| Died | January 18, 2013 (aged 70) Palo Alto, California
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| Alma mater | Stanford University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Toronto Palo Alto Research Center DEC Systems Research Center Intertrust Technologies Corporation |
| Thesis | A Study of Grammatical Inference (1969) |
| Doctoral advisor | Jerome A. "Jerry" Feldman |
| Doctoral students | John Guttag |
James Jay Horning (born August 24, 1942 – died January 18, 2013) was an American computer scientist. He was also an ACM Fellow, which means he was recognized as a top expert in computing.
Contents
Jim Horning's Early Life and Education
Jim Horning earned his highest degree, a PhD, in computer science. He received it from Stanford University in 1969. His special research paper was called A Study of Grammatical Inference. This paper looked at how computers could learn the rules of language.
Working in Computer Science
Jim Horning had a long and important career in the world of computers. He worked at several famous places.
University of Toronto
From 1969 to 1977, Jim was a founding member of the Computer Systems Research Group. This group was at the University of Toronto in Canada. He later became the chairman of this group. While there, he helped design a programming language called Euclid. A programming language is like a special set of instructions that tells a computer what to do.
Research at Top Companies
After his time in Canada, Jim Horning worked at some very important research centers.
- He was a research fellow at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). This was from 1977 to 1984. PARC is famous for inventing many things we use today, like the computer mouse.
- From 1984 to 1996, he was a founding member and senior consultant at DEC Systems Research Center (DEC/SRC).
- Later, from 1997 to 2001, he founded and directed STAR Lab. This lab was part of Intertrust Technologies Corporation.
Jim Horning's Interests
Jim Horning was interested in many areas of computer science. These included:
- Programming languages: How computers understand instructions.
- Programming methodology: The best ways to write computer programs.
- Formal methods: Using math and logic to make sure computer systems work correctly.
- Digital rights management: Protecting digital content like music or movies.
- Computer/network security: Keeping computers and networks safe from attacks.
One of his biggest contributions was his work on the Larch approach. This was a way to formally describe how computer systems should work. He did this work with John Guttag and other colleagues.
Jim Horning's Passing
Jim Horning passed away on January 18, 2013. He died in Palo Alto, California. His death was reported by Peter G. Neumann in a publication called the RISKS Digest.
Publications
Jim Horning also wrote books about computer science. One of his well-known books was A Compiler Generator, which he wrote with others in 1970. This book helped people understand how to create programs that translate code into something a computer can understand.
