Deborah McGuinness
Encyclopedia
Deborah Louise McGuinness is a computer scientist
working in the field of artificial intelligence
, specifically in knowledge representation and reasoning, description logic
s, the semantic web
, explanation, and trust. She is a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
where she holds an endowed chair in the Tetherless World Research Constellation.
McGuinness received a B.S.
in math and computer science from Duke University
, a masters degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley
, and a Ph.D.
in Computer Science from Rutgers University
. Prior to coming to Stanford, she was in the Artificial Intelligence Research Departments at AT&T Bell Labs and AT&T Labs
Research at Murray Hill and Florham Park, respectively. She was co-director and senior research scientist at the Knowledge Systems Laboratory at Stanford University
. In October 2007 she became faculty at RPI, where she joined another well known semantic web expert, James Hendler
on the Tetherless World Research Constellation.
McGuinness is known for her work on description logic
s, particularly her work on the CLASSIC knowledge representation system, explanation components for description logics, and a number of long-lived applications of description logics such as the PROSE and QUESTAR configurators from AT&T and Lucent and the wines knowledge base for CLASSIC
, DAML, OWL, and the KSL Wine Agent. She is also well known in the field for co-authoring the World Wide Web Consortium
(W3C)'s recommendation for an Ontology Web Language - OWL. She also started Stanford's explanation effort,called Inference Web, that aims to provide infrastructure for improving trust and understandability of answers in distributed environments, such as the web. She is co-author of the Proof Markup Language (PML) for representing knowledge provenance.
McGuinness continues to be involved in a variety of research relating to the semantic web
, trustable systems and web integration platforms for portable devices. In addition to her research activities she is also CEO and president of her own consulting firm and serves on the board of the Semantic Web Science Foundation as well as a number of startup companies.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
working in the field of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, specifically in knowledge representation and reasoning, description logic
Description logic
Description logic is a family of formal knowledge representation languages. It is more expressive than propositional logic but has more efficient decision problems than first-order predicate logic....
s, the semantic web
Semantic Web
The Semantic Web is a collaborative movement led by the World Wide Web Consortium that promotes common formats for data on the World Wide Web. By encouraging the inclusion of semantic content in web pages, the Semantic Web aims at converting the current web of unstructured documents into a "web of...
, explanation, and trust. She is a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
where she holds an endowed chair in the Tetherless World Research Constellation.
McGuinness received a B.S.
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in math and computer science from Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
, a masters degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, and a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in Computer Science from Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
. Prior to coming to Stanford, she was in the Artificial Intelligence Research Departments at AT&T Bell Labs and AT&T Labs
AT&T Labs
AT&T Labs, Inc. is the research & development division of AT&T, where scientists and engineers work to understand and advance innovative technologies relevant to networking, communications, and information. Over 1800 employees work in six locations: Florham Park, NJ; Middletown, NJ; Austin, TX;...
Research at Murray Hill and Florham Park, respectively. She was co-director and senior research scientist at the Knowledge Systems Laboratory at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
. In October 2007 she became faculty at RPI, where she joined another well known semantic web expert, James Hendler
James Hendler
James Hendler is an artificial intelligence researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA, and one of the originators of the Semantic Web.-Background and research:...
on the Tetherless World Research Constellation.
McGuinness is known for her work on description logic
Description logic
Description logic is a family of formal knowledge representation languages. It is more expressive than propositional logic but has more efficient decision problems than first-order predicate logic....
s, particularly her work on the CLASSIC knowledge representation system, explanation components for description logics, and a number of long-lived applications of description logics such as the PROSE and QUESTAR configurators from AT&T and Lucent and the wines knowledge base for CLASSIC
Classic
The word classic means something that is a perfect example of a particular style, something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality. The word can be an adjective or a noun . It denotes a particular quality in art, architecture, literature and other cultural artifacts...
, DAML, OWL, and the KSL Wine Agent. She is also well known in the field for co-authoring the World Wide Web Consortium
World Wide Web Consortium
The World Wide Web Consortium is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web .Founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations which maintain full-time staff for the purpose of working together in the development of standards for the...
(W3C)'s recommendation for an Ontology Web Language - OWL. She also started Stanford's explanation effort,called Inference Web, that aims to provide infrastructure for improving trust and understandability of answers in distributed environments, such as the web. She is co-author of the Proof Markup Language (PML) for representing knowledge provenance.
McGuinness continues to be involved in a variety of research relating to the semantic web
Semantic Web
The Semantic Web is a collaborative movement led by the World Wide Web Consortium that promotes common formats for data on the World Wide Web. By encouraging the inclusion of semantic content in web pages, the Semantic Web aims at converting the current web of unstructured documents into a "web of...
, trustable systems and web integration platforms for portable devices. In addition to her research activities she is also CEO and president of her own consulting firm and serves on the board of the Semantic Web Science Foundation as well as a number of startup companies.