IHMC honors seven colleagues with emeritus status

At the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), we stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us. 

This month, IHMC honored seven people who helped build the Institute from a closet in the computer science department at the University of West Florida into a research center with an international reputation in artificial intelligence, computer science, robotics and exoskeletons, and healthspan, resilience, and performance research.  

“Without the contributions of these individuals, IHMC quite simply would not be where it is today,” said Founder and CEO Dr. Ken Ford. “Their own sense of commitment to excellence inspired, and continues to influence, the culture of IHMC. We are grateful to each of them.” 

The honorees named to Emeritus status were: 

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. James Allen 

Dr. Allen is a pioneer in artificial intelligence with substantial contributions to natural language understanding research. He is a professor emeritus at the University of Rochester where he has been on the faculty since 1978.  Dr. Allen joined IHMC in 2006 and served as an Associate Director. 

Computational linguistics is at the root of speech recognition systems, text-to-speech synthesizers, automated voice-response systems, internet search engines, text editors, language instruction material and more.  

His research uniquely combines what often are treated as separate fields in artificial intelligence — knowledge representation and reasoning, language understanding, planning, intention recognition, and learning.  

  

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. Jeffrey M. Bradshaw 

Dr. Bradshaw is a pioneer in automated knowledge acquisition and multiagent systems.  

His book, “Software Agents” is a classic in the field of multiagent systems and is one of several books he has authored. Since 2000, the research group Dr. Bradshaw led at IHMC developed a framework for distributed systems management and human-agent-robot teamwork.

This framework has been used in scores of government-sponsored and commercial projects for network management, secure policy-based governance of complex systems, and for the coordination of human-robot teams. 

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. Alberto Cañas 

Dr. Canas is a co-founder of IHMC, an innovator in knowledge modeling and the creator of CmapTools, a software tool used by schools, businesses, and organizations across the globe.  

His IHMC research projects include knowledge modeling, performance support systems, collaborative tools for education and research, distance learning, and corporate memory. 

CmapTools is an outgrowth of Dr. Cañas’ interest in the use of technology in the K-12 education system. Before going to the University of West Florida, he was the director of IBM’s Latin American Education Research Center in Costa Rica.  

His research includes the use of computers in education, knowledge management, knowledge acquisition, information retrieval, and human-machine interface. 

  

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. William J. Clancey 

Dr. Clancey is a computer scientist whose research relates cognitive and social science in the study of work practices and the design of agent systems.  

Before joining IHMC in 1997, Dr. Clancey was at the Institute for Research on Learning in Menlo Park, Calif., from its founding in 1988, where he co-developed the Brahms multi-agent work practice modeling and simulation system. At the NASA Ames Research Center, where he served as Chief Scientist of Human-Centered Computing in the Intelligent Systems Division. His team developed the Mobile Agents software that automates file processing between Mission Control and the International Space Station. 

At Stanford’s Knowledge Systems Lab, he developed some of the earliest AI programs for explanation, meta-level reasoning, the critiquing method of consultation, tutorial discourse, and student modeling. 

 

Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Dr. Robert Hoffman 

Dr. Hoffman is a recognized leader in cognitive systems engineering and human-centered computing. His research has centered on knowledge modeling, work analysis, cybersecurity, expertise studies, and several others. 

Dr. Hoffman has been recognized internationally in cognitive systems engineering, applied psychology, artificial intelligence, and human factors engineering—for his research on the methodology of cognitive task analysis and human-centering issues for human-systems integration systems technology.  

He has co-authored and co-edited 18 scholarly books and is co-author on over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals.  

Deputy Director for Defense Research and Development Emeritus, Tim Wright  

Vice Adm. Tim Wright joined IHMC in 1996 as deputy director after having served for 35 years in the U.S. Navy. As a Naval aviator, he served primarily in fighter squadrons during his active flying career. He commanded a fighter squadron, a carrier air wing, a fleet oiler, an aircraft carrier, a carrier battle group and the U.S. Seventh Fleet.  

He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., and a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University. He also is a graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University. 

Board of Directors Emeritus, Carol Carlan 

Carol Carlan was the inaugural chair of IHMC’s Board of Directors and now serves as the Institute’s director of philanthropy. Her leadership helped guide the Institute from its early years to its status as a premier research institution. 

Her banking career spanned more than 35 years culminating in serving as the first female president of a large regional bank. As the President of the Ascension Sacred Heart Foundation, she led one of the largest capital campaigns in the region, resulting in a new children’s hospital and expansion of children’s services in the Destin market. 

As President of Carlan Consulting, she is a founding member of the John Maxwell Team, a global training organization for leaders with more than 50,000 members worldwide. 

Among the numerous accolades she has received: Pensacola Chamber PACE Awards recognized her as the Spirit of Pensacola and Business Leader of the Year, Leadership Pensacola gave her the Blue Angel Leadership Award, a participant of the Leadership Florida Class of 2011-2012, recognized for her many years of work as a Trustee of the Pace Center for Girls State Board of Trustees she was awarded the 25th anniversary Pioneer Award. 

IHMC is a not-for-profit research institute of the Florida University System where researchers pioneer science and technology aimed at leveraging and extending human capabilities. IHMC researchers and staff collaborate extensively with the government, industry and academia to help develop breakthrough technologies. IHMC research partners have included: DARPA, the National Science Foundation, NASA, Army, Navy, Air Force, National Institutes of Health, IBM, Microsoft, Honda, Boeing, Lockheed, and many others.