Judea Pearl facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Judea Pearl
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Judea Pearl at NIPS 2013
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| Born | September 4, 1936 |
| Nationality | Israeli American |
| Alma mater | Technion – Israel Institute of Technology New Jersey Institute of Technology Rutgers University New York University Tandon School of Engineering |
| Known for | Artificial Intelligence Causality Bayesian Networks Structural Equation Modeling |
| Spouse(s) |
Ruth Pearl (née Eveline Rejwan)
(m. 1960; died 2021) |
| Children | 3, including Daniel |
| Awards | IJCAI Award for Research Excellence (1999) Turing Award (2011) Rumelhart Prize (2011) Harvey Prize (2011) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2021) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science, statistics |
| Thesis | Vortex Theory of Superconductive Memories (1965) |
| Doctoral advisor | Leonard Strauss Leonard Bergstein |
| Doctoral students | Rina Dechter, Hector Geffner, Elias Bareinboim |
Judea Pearl (born September 4, 1936) is an Israeli-American computer scientist and philosopher. He is famous for his work in artificial intelligence (AI). He helped create a way for computers to deal with uncertainty, using something called Bayesian networks. He also developed a special theory about how to figure out causes and effects.
In 2011, Judea Pearl won the Turing Award. This is the highest honor in computer science, like a Nobel Prize for computers! He received it for his important work in helping AI systems understand probability and cause-and-effect relationships. He has written several books, including The Book of Why, which explains his ideas about causality to everyone.
Judea Pearl is also the father of Daniel Pearl, a journalist. Daniel was kidnapped and tragically passed away in Pakistan in 2002.
Contents
Biography
Judea Pearl was born in Tel Aviv, which was then called British Mandate for Palestine, in 1936. His parents, Eliezer and Tova Pearl, were Jewish immigrants from Poland. He grew up in a town called Bnei Brak. His grandfather, Chaim Pearl, was one of the people who helped start Bnei Brak.
After serving in the Israel Defense Forces (Israel's army) and living on a kibbutz (a community farm), Pearl decided to study engineering in 1956. He earned his first degree in electrical engineering from the Technion in 1960.
That same year, he moved to the United States to continue his studies. He earned more degrees in electrical engineering and physics. In 1965, he received his PhD from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now New York University Tandon School of Engineering).
Pearl worked at different companies, including RCA Research Laboratories. In 1970, he joined the UCLA's School of Engineering. There, he began his important work on making artificial intelligence smarter by using probability. He also helped start the Journal of Causal Inference.
Today, Pearl is a professor of computer science and statistics at UCLA. He also directs the Cognitive Systems Laboratory there. He and his wife, Ruth, have three children.
Daniel Pearl's Story
In 2002, Judea Pearl's son, Daniel Pearl, was a journalist for the Wall Street Journal. Daniel was kidnapped and tragically passed away in Pakistan. This sad event led Judea and his family and friends to create the Daniel Pearl Foundation. This foundation works to promote understanding and fight against hatred.
On the seventh anniversary of Daniel's passing, Judea Pearl wrote about his son. He shared how he was working for peace between different groups of people. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, a well-known religious leader, once shared Judea Pearl's powerful words: "Hate killed my son. Therefore I am determined to fight hate."
His Beliefs
Judea Pearl describes his religious views as being a "practicing disbeliever." This means he doesn't believe in a traditional God, but he still feels a strong connection to Jewish traditions. He enjoys celebrating holidays and participating in customs like kiddush on Friday night.
His Research
Judea Pearl is known for "laying the foundations of modern artificial intelligence." This means he helped create the basic ideas that allow computer systems to understand things that are uncertain. He also helped them figure out how causes lead to effects.
He was one of the first to develop Bayesian networks. These are special computer models that help AI systems make decisions when they don't have all the information. He also helped make the study of cause and effect more scientific. His work has changed how people think about causality in many fields, like statistics, psychology, and medicine.
UCLA computer science professor Richard Korf calls Pearl "one of the giants in the field of artificial intelligence."
Books He Wrote
- Heuristics, 1984
- Probabilistic Reasoning in Intelligent Systems, 1988
- I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl, 2004 (This book won a National Jewish Book Award!)
- Causal Inference in Statistics: A Primer, (with Madelyn Glymour and Nicholas Jewell), 2016
Awards and Honors
- Kampe De Feriet Award (2024)
- Test of Time Award (2023)
- BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2021)
- Classic Paper Award, Artificial Intelligence Journal (2020)
- Honorary Fellow, Royal Statistical Society (2020)
- Fellow of the American Statistical Association (2019)
- Honorary Doctorate, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2018)
- Honorary Doctorate, Yale University (2018)
- Edward A. Dickson Award, UCLA (2018)
- Ulf Grenander Prize, American Mathematical Society (2018)
- Sells Award for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement (2016)
- Fellow, ACM (2015)
- Dickson Prize, Carnegie Mellon University (2015)
- Classic Paper Award, Artificial Intelligence Journal (2015)
- Honorary Doctorate, Carnegie Mellon University (2015)
- Member, National Academy of Sciences (2014)
- Honorary Doctorate, Texas A&M (2014)
- Lynford Lecture and Distinguished Alumni Award, NYU-Polytechnic (2013)
- Medallion Lecture, Institute of Mathematical Statistics (2013)
- ACM Turing Award (2012)
- Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012)
- Harvey Prize, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology (2012)
- Fellow, Cognitive Science Society (2011)
- David E. Rumelhart Prize, Cognitive Science Society (2011)
- IEEE Intelligent Systems' AI's Hall of Fame (2011)
- Honorary Doctorate, Chapman University (2008)
- Benjamin Franklin Medal in Computers and Cognitive Science (2008)
- Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Toronto (2007)
- Purpose Prize (2006)
- Classic Paper Award, AAAI (2006)
- Allen Newell Award, Association for Computing Machinery (2004)
- Corresponding Member, Spanish Academy of Engineering (2002)
- Lakatos Award, The London School of Economics and Political Science (2001)
- Classic Paper Award, AAAI (2000)
- IJCAI Research Excellence Award in Artificial Intelligence (1999)
- UCLA 81st Faculty Research Lecturer (1996)
- Member, National Academy of Engineering (NAE) (1995)
- Fellow, American Association of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) (1990)
- Fellow, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (1988)
- RCA Laboratories Achievement Award (1965)
See also
