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Emeritus Prof. Gio Wiederhold, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Medicine, Stanford University

Gio Wiederhold is an Emeritus Professor of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, and Medicine at Stanford University. Since 1976 he has supervised 36 PhD theses in these departments.  Research topics addressed database technologies, knowledge-based integration of information, an algebra over ontologies, access to simulations to augment decision-making, privacy protection in collaborative settings, composition of software, and contributions to the semantic web. Since his retirement Gio is spending most of his time consulting for MITRE Corporation serving the U.S. Treasury on valuation of software and related IP being transferred internationally.

Wiederhold has authored and coauthored more than 300 publications and reports on computing and medicine, including an early popular Database Design textbook, now in the ACM Digital Library. He initiated knowledge-base research through a white paper to DARPA in 1977, combining databases and Artificial intelligence technology. The results led to the concept of mediator architectures and contributed to the establishment of digital libraries. His most recent book is Valuing Intellectual Capital, Multinationals and Taxhavens; Springer 2013.

Gio Wiederhold was born in Italy, received a degree in Aeronautical Engineering in Holland in 1957 and a PhD in Medical Information Science from the University of California at San Francisco in 1976. In between he spent 16 years in the software industry. His industrial career followed computer technologies, starting with numerical analysis applied to rocket fuel, implementation of FORTRAN and PL/1 compilers, real-time data acquisition, a time-oriented database system, eventually becoming a corporate software architect. Gio has also worked with computing enterprises in Europe and Asia. He spent a year (1964-1965) at IIT Kanpur and subsequently consulted for the United Nations Development Programme on projects in India and China. Gio spent 1991-1994 as the program manager for Knowledge-based Systems at DARPA in Washington DC.

Gio Wiederhold has been elected fellow of the ACMI, the IEEE, SIRI, and the ACM.  He has been an editor and editor-in-chief of several IEEE and ACM publications.