Charles Rosen (December 7, 1917 – December 8, 2002) was a pioneer in

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

and founder of

SRI International SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

Artificial Intelligence Center The Artificial Intelligence Center is a laboratory in the Information and Computing Sciences Division of SRI International. It was founded in 1966 by Charles Rosen and studies artificial intelligence. One of their early projects was Shakey the ...

. He led the project that led to the development of

Shakey the Robot Shakey the Robot was the first general-purpose mobile robot able to reason about its own actions. While other robots would have to be instructed on each individual step of completing a larger task, Shakey could analyze commands and break them down ...

, "who" now resides in a glass case at the

Computer History Museum The Computer History Museum (CHM) is a computer museum in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the Information Age, and explores the Digital Revolution, computing revolution and its impact ...

, in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the population was 82,376 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mountain V ...

Early life and education

Raised in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Rosen became a student at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

and received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1940; he returned to Montreal to study at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

, where he received his M. Eng. (in communications) in 1950.

Career

While working at the

General Electric Research Laboratory General Electric Research Laboratory was the first industrial research facility in the United States. Established in 1900, the lab was home to the early technological breakthroughs of General Electric and created a research and development environ ...

, in 1953 Rosen co-authored one of the first textbooks on transistor circuits. In 1956, Rosen received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

(with a minor in solid state physics). In 1957, Rosen joined the

Stanford Research Institute SRI International (SRI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit scientific research, scientific research institute and organization headquartered in Menlo Park, California, United States. It was established in 1946 by trustees of Stanford Univer ...

, where he did much of his artificial intelligence work. In 1959, Rosen co-founded

Ridge Vineyards Ridge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California. The original winery facilities are located at an elevation of on Mo ...

with SRI colleagues

Hewitt Crane Hewitt D. Crane (1927–2008) was an American engineer best known for his pioneering work at SRI International on ERMA (Electronic Recording Machine, Accounting), for Bank of America, magnetic digital logic, neuristor logic, the development of an ...

and David Bennion. Under their ownership, Ridge would go on to place fifth in the

Judgment of Paris The Judgement of Paris is a story from Greek mythology, which was one of the events that led up to the Trojan War, and in later versions to the foundation of Rome. Eris (mythology), Eris, the goddess of discord, was not invited to the wedding ...

wine tasting. In 1978, Rosen co-founded Machine Intelligence Corporation (MIC) with colleagues from SRI and elsewhere. He served as its first CEO. MIC developed the first commercially available industrial machine vision system, the VS-100, in his garage. MIC later spun out

Symantec Corporation Gen Digital Inc. (formerly Symantec Corporation and NortonLifeLock Inc.) is a multinational software company co-headquartered in both Prague, Czech Republic ( EU) and Tempe, Arizona ( USA). The company provides cybersecurity software and servi ...

in 1982. He was founding Fellow of the

Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is an international Learned society, scientific society devoted to promote research in, and responsible use of, artificial intelligence. AAAI also aims to increase public under ...

in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosen, Charles 1917 births 2002 deaths Scientists from Montreal Cooper Union alumni McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni Syracuse University alumni Canadian computer scientists Artificial intelligence researchers Viticulturists SRI International people Fellows of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence