William J. Clancey

William J. Clancey arrived on this planet in New Jersey, graduating as valedictorian from East Brunswick High School with honors in biology. Majoring in Mathematical Sciences at Rice University (BA, summa cum laude, 1974), he selected courses in thirteen departments, relating studies of cognition in philosophy, anthropology, linguistics, religion, and sociology. At Stanford University he received a PhD in Computer Science (1979) in the area of artificial intelligence (AI), "Knowledge-Based Tutoring: The GUIDON Program."

Clancey has extensive experience in medical, educational, financial, and aerospace computing. He co-founded Teknowledge and Modernsoft, and was founding member of the Institute for Research on Learning, founding Editor-in-Chief of AAAI/MIT Press, and a Senior Editor of Cognitive Science. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, Association for Psychological Science, Association for the Advancement of AI, and the American College of Medical Informatics. His study of Mars mission scientists, "Working on Mars: Voyages of Scientific Discovery with the Mars Exploration Rovers," received the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2014 Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award.

On an appointment to NASA from the Florida Institute for Human & Machine Cognition, his team received the NASA Honor Award and the Johnson Space Center Exceptional Software Award for an "agent" system that automates all routine file transfers between the International Space Station and Mission Control in Houston. Clancey is an Eagle Boy Scout and has participated on many expeditions with NASA scientists planning missions to Mars. He enjoys speaking about space science and AI in schools, museums, and to adult audiences; he has been an invited speaker in more than twenty countries.