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Public Relations Office, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh PA 15213-3891
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18 August 1999

Carnegie Mellon Professor Named Co-Chairman of President's Information Technology Advisory Committee

Raj Reddy, the Herbert A. Simon university professor of computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, has been named co-chairman of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), the White House announced today. He will co-chair PITAC for a two-year term with Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president and general manager, Internet Division, IBM Corporation.

PITAC was established by President Clinton in 1997 to provide the President, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Federal agencies involved in Computing Information and Communications (CIC) research and development with guidance and advice on all areas of high-performance computing, communications and information technologies. Representing the research, education and library communities and including network providers and representatives from critical industries, the committee will help guide the administration's efforts to accelerate development and adoption of information technologies vital for American prosperity in the 21st century.

"In its advisory role to the President and Congress, PITAC will assist in formulating national policy in this increasingly important area," Reddy said. "Investments in information technology over the last 30 to 40 years have resulted in industries with hundreds of billions of dollars of market capitalization. Unlike other areas of the economy, information technology has the potential to transform society in important new ways. Our country must continue to provide leadership in this critical area."

Reddy, 62, has been a member of PITAC since 1997. He is internationally renowned for his research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), notably in speech recognition. He received the ACM Turing Award in 1995, in recognition of his work.

Reddy's research interests include the study of human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. He is working on projects in speech recognition and understanding systems, gigabit networks, universal digital libraries and learning on demand.

He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Madras, India, a master's degree from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and a doctor's degree in computer science from Stanford University.

Reddy began his academic career as an assistant professor at Stanford. He joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty as an associate professor of computer science in 1969. He became a full professor at Carnegie Mellon in 1973, a university professor in 1984 and Simon university professor in 1992. He served as the founding director of the university=B9s Robotics Institute from 1979 until he was named dean of the School of Computer Science in 1991. He served as dean through June 1999.

Reddy is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Acoustical Society of America and the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1984, he was awarded the Legion of Honor by then French President Francois Mitterrand for bringing computer technology to developing countries. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Peres Institute for Peace.

More information about PITAC can be found on the Web at http://www.ccic.gov/.

Contact:

Anne Watzman, Office of Public Relations,
School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University,
412.268.3830


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