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Edward Feigenbaum
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Edward Feigenbaum

Stanford scientist known as the father of expert systems

20 January 1936 United States Verified by our editors
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Age
90 yrs
Birthday in 75 days
Works listed
3
Book, Expert system
Honours
2
Most recent 2013
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Edward Feigenbaum is an American computer scientist known as the father of expert systems, programs that capture specialist knowledge to solve problems. His DENDRAL and MYCIN projects at Stanford helped make AI commercially useful. He shared the 1994 Turing Award with Raj Reddy.

Biography

Education

Feigenbaum studied at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where Herbert Simon introduced him to computers. His PhD built EPAM, a computer model of human memory.

Expert systems

At Stanford from 1965 he worked with Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel-winning geneticist, on DENDRAL, a program that identified chemical molecules from mass-spectrometry data. It showed that a computer with expert knowledge could match specialists. Later projects such as MYCIN diagnosed blood infections.

Knowledge is power

Feigenbaum argued that AI’s power lay in knowledge rather than general reasoning, coining the term “knowledge engineering”. Expert systems became the first big commercial wave of AI in the 1980s.

Public role

He co-wrote The Fifth Generation (1983) about Japan’s AI programme and served as chief scientist of the US Air Force. He received the Turing Award in 1994 with Raj Reddy.

Timeline

  1. 1936

    Born in Weehawken, New Jersey, United States

  2. 1960

    PhD from Carnegie Tech

  3. 1963

    Co-edits Computers and Thought

  4. 1965

    Starts DENDRAL at Stanford

  5. 1983

    The Fifth Generation

  6. 1994

    Turing Award

  7. 2013

    Computer Pioneer Award

Notable works

  • 1963

    Computers and Thought Book

    With Julian Feldman.

  • 1965

    DENDRAL Expert system

  • 1983

    The Fifth Generation Book

    With Pamela McCorduck.

Awards and honours

  • Turing Award

    1994

  • Computer Pioneer Award

    2013

Did you know?

  1. 1

    His slogan was “In the knowledge lies the power”.

  2. 2

    Herbert Simon was his teacher and mentor.

  3. 3

    Expert systems were used by banks, doctors and oil companies in the 1980s.

Connections

Related people

Also born on 20 January

Frequently asked

Who is Edward Feigenbaum?

Edward Feigenbaum is an American computer scientist known as the father of expert systems, programs that capture specialist knowledge to solve problems. His DENDRAL and MYCIN projects at Stanford helped make AI commercially useful. He shared the 1994 Turing Award with Raj Reddy.

How old is Edward Feigenbaum?

Edward Feigenbaum is 90 years old, born on 20 January 1936 in Weehawken, New Jersey, United States.

Where is Edward Feigenbaum from?

Edward Feigenbaum was born in Weehawken, New Jersey, United States.

What is Edward Feigenbaum known for?

Edward Feigenbaum is best known for Expert systems; DENDRAL; knowledge engineering; Turing Award 1994.

What awards has Edward Feigenbaum received?

Notable honours include Turing Award (1994), Computer Pioneer Award (2013).

References

  1. Edward Feigenbaum — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  2. Edward Feigenbaum — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  3. Official website. ksl-web.stanford.edu. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
  4. Edward Feigenbaum (Q92823) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.

Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Edward Feigenbaum”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more

External links

Official website Website Wikipedia
Filed under Artificial intelligenceStanford UniversityTuring Award Computer ScientistProfessor

About this profile

Cite this page

“Edward Feigenbaum.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/edward-feigenbaum

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