Joseph Weizenbaum

Updated: 12/01/2019 by Computer Hope
Joseph Weizenbaum

Name: Joseph Weizenbaum

Born: January 8, 1923, in Berlin, Germany

Death: March 5, 2008 (Age: 85)

Computer-related contributions

  • German-American author, professor emeritus of computer science at MIT and creator of the SLIP (symmetric list processor) programming language.
  • In 1956, he worked for General Electric on ERMA, a computer system which introduced the use of magnetically-encoded fonts imprinted on the bottom border of checks. This invention allowed for automated check processing via MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition).
  • Created ELIZA.
  • The Weizenbaum Award is named after him.

Significant publications

  • Computer Power and Human Reason (1976).
  • ELIZA - A Computer Program for the Study of Natural Language Communication between Man and Machine (1966).