Photo: MIT OpenCourseWare, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons¹⁹

Patrick Winston

American computer scientist (1943–2019)

Patrick Henry Winston (February 5, 1943 – July 19, 2019) was an American computer scientist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Winston was director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory from 1972 to 1997, succeeding his doctoral advisor Marvin Minsky, who left to help found the MIT Media Lab.²

From Wikipedia’s article on Patrick Winston (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Feb 5, 1943, died Jul 19, 2019.¹

About

Winston was succeeded as director by Rodney Brooks.

After graduating from high school, Winston left East Peoria, a suburb of Peoria, IL, to come to MIT by train. He received his undergraduate degree from MIT in 1965, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and went on to complete his Masters and PhD there as well, finalizing his PhD in 1970. His research interests included machine learning and human intelligence. Winston was known within the MIT community for his excellent teaching and strong commitment to supporting MIT undergraduate culture.

At MIT, Winston taught 6.034: Artificial Intelligence and 6.803/6.833: Human Intelligence Enterprise. Winston's How to Speak talk was an MIT tradition for over 40 years. "Offered every January, the talk is intended to improve your speaking ability in critical situations by teaching you a few heuristic rules." In 2020, the MIT Press published a book with his insights and teachings on communication: Make It Clear: Speak and Write to Persuade and Inform.

Winston served as president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence from 1985 to 1987.

From Wikipedia’s article on Patrick Winston, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.²

Companies

Ascent Technology (United States)Founder¹⁷
Association for the Advancement of Artificial IntelligenceChair 1985 to 1987¹⁸

Early life and education

Date not recordedMassachusetts Institute of Technology Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy^{3 4}

Career

Occupation: artificial intelligence researcher, university teacher, computer scientist, engineer.¹⁰

1985 to 1987President, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence^{7 8}
1985 to 1987Chair, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence⁹
1970 to 2019Worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology^{4 5}
Date not recordedFounded Ascent Technology (United States)⁶

Personal life

BornFeb 5, 1943, Peoria^{4 11}
DiedJul 19, 2019, Massachusetts General Hospital^{4 12}
CitizenshipUnited States¹³

Awards

1990AAAI Fellow^{14 16}
1973IJCAI Computers and Thought Award^{14 15}

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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WikidataPatrick Winston on Wikidata
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WikipediaPatrick Winston on Wikipedia
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WikidataPatrick Winston: education, on Wikidata
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Wikidataeducation, as reported
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WikidataPatrick Winston: Worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Wikidata
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WikidataPatrick Winston: Founded Ascent Technology (United States), on Wikidata
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WikidataPatrick Winston: President, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, on Wikidata
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WikidataPresident, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, as reported
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WikidataPatrick Winston: Chair, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, on Wikidata
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WikidataPatrick Winston: occupation, on Wikidata
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WikidataPatrick Winston: place of birth, on Wikidata
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WikidataPatrick Winston: place of death, on Wikidata
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WikidataPatrick Winston: citizenship, on Wikidata
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WikidataPatrick Winston: award, on Wikidata
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Wikidataaward, as reported
16
Wikidataaward, as reported
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WikidataAscent Technology (United States), Founder
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WikidataAssociation for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, Chair
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Wikimedia CommonsPatrick Winston photo by MIT OpenCourseWare, CC BY-SA 3.0