Allen Newell (Ph.D. 1957, faculty)

Allen Newell is considered one of the founders of the field of artificial intelligence, earning international renown for his pioneering work, and was a key figure in the field of cognitive psychology.

Newell and his longtime collaborator Herbert Simon (Nobel laureate and founding Tepper School of Business faculty member) were awarded the 1975 A.M. Turing Award of the Association for Computing Machinery, the highest honor in computer science, for their work on the modeling of human problem-solving techniques.

Newell earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from Stanford University, following WWII Navy service. He then spent a year doing mathematics graduate work at Princeton University before moving on to Rand Corporation as a research scientist, where he met Simon.

Following their discussions regarding the modeling of human thinking and with Rand’s support, Newell came to Pittsburgh to collaborate with Simon, earning the Tepper School's first doctoral degree before ultimately joining the faculty.

Newell was instrumental in creating Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science and establishing it as a globally recognized institution. The former professor of psychology and Helen Whitaker University Professor of Computer Science wrote or co-authored more than 250 publications (including 10 books) and was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Newell’s numerous honors include all the major scientific awards in the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, and cognitive psychology; the U.S. National Medal of Science in 1992; and two honorary doctorates.