Julia Hirschberg facts for kids

Julia Hirschberg is a famous American computer scientist. She is known for her amazing work in how computers understand and use human language. This field is called natural language processing (NLP) and computational linguistics.

In 2017, she was chosen to be part of the National Academy of Engineering. This was because of her important ideas about how computers can "talk" and understand spoken conversations. She also helped with how computers can search and find information in audio recordings.

Currently, Dr. Hirschberg is a Computer Science Professor at Columbia University.

About Julia Hirschberg

Julia Linn Bell Hirschberg first earned a Ph.D. degree in History in 1976 from the University of Michigan. She taught History at Smith College from 1974 to 1982.

Later, she decided to study Computer Science. She received her Master's degree in Computer and Information Science in 1982 from the University of Pennsylvania. She then earned her second Ph.D. in Computer and Information Science from the same university in 1985.

Her Career Path

After finishing her studies in 1985, Dr. Hirschberg joined AT&T Bell Labs. She worked in the Linguistics Research Department. There, she focused on making Text-to-Speech Synthesis (TTS) systems sound more natural. TTS systems are what allow computers to "speak" written text aloud.

In 1994, she became a Department Head. She created a new lab focused on how humans and computers interact. Her team later moved to AT&T Labs Research in 1996.

In 2002, Dr. Hirschberg became a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. She was also the Chair of the Computer Science Department from 2012 to 2018.

What She Researches

Dr. Hirschberg's research helps computers understand and use human language better. She studies how we speak, including the rhythm and tone of our voice. This is called prosody. She also looks at how conversations are structured and how computers can have natural-sounding dialogues with people.

Making Computers Talk and Understand

Dr. Hirschberg was one of the first to combine language understanding (NLP) with speech research. In the 1980s and 1990s, she developed new ways to make Text-to-Speech (TTS) systems sound more natural. She used information about how sentences are built to help computers speak with the right rhythm and tone. Many of her ideas are still used in TTS systems today.

With another researcher, Janet Pierrehumbert, she created a model to explain how the tone of our voice changes the meaning of what we say. She also helped create the ToBI system. This system is a widely used standard for describing how people use intonation (the rise and fall of our voice) in different languages.

Understanding How We Speak

Dr. Hirschberg has done a lot of experiments on how the way we speak affects meaning. For example, she studied how emphasizing certain words changes what we mean. She also looked at how prosody helps us understand unclear sentences in English, Italian, and Spanish.

Her work also includes:

• Helping computers find errors in what they "hear" people say.
• Developing new ways to search for information within spoken recordings.
• Studying how people take turns in conversations with computers.
• Teaching computers to recognize emotions, trust, or even if someone is being deceptive from their voice.
• Creating summaries of spoken conversations.
• Translating prosody from one language to another.

She also holds several patents for her inventions in speech technology.

Helping Others in Computing

Dr. Hirschberg is also known for her leadership in encouraging more people to join the field of computing. She has served on many important committees, including the Computing Research Association's (CRA) Board of Directors. She also co-chairs CRA-W, which works to support women in computing research.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Hirschberg has received many important awards for her work:

• Honorary Doctorate from Tilburg University, Netherlands (2018)
• Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2018)
• IEEE Fellow (2017)
• Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2017)
• ACM Fellow (2015)
• Elected member of the American Philosophical Society (2014)
• Honorary member of the Association for Laboratory Phonology (2014)
• Founding Fellow of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) (2011)
• International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) Medal for Scientific Achievement (2011)
• IEEE James L. Flanagan Speech and Audio Processing Award (2011)
• Honorary Doctorate from KTH in Stockholm, Sweden (2007)
• AAAI Fellow (1994)