Bernard Vauquois
Bernard Vauquois was a French mathematician and computer scientist whose work helped establish machine-translation research in Grenoble. He studied mathematics, physics, and astronomy before researching astrophysics at CNRS's Meudon Observatory. At Grenoble, he became a computer-science professor, served on the ALGOL 60 committee, and helped establish CETA. His CETA team built a Russian–French translation system; he proposed a representational pivot and the Vauquois triangle and worked on ARIANE-78. He helped found the ICCL, served as its president from 1967 to 1984, co-founded the Leibniz laboratory, proposed multilevel structure descriptors, developed static grammar, and remained active in machine translation until his death in 1985.
Timeline
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1929
A French computer scientist
Born in 1929, he is a French mathematician and computer scientist.
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1952–1958
Astrophysics at Meudon
He studies mathematics, physics, and astronomy before researching astrophysics at CNRS's Meudon Observatory from 1952 to 1958.
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1958–1961
Grenoble, ALGOL 60 and CETA
Between 1958 and 1961, he serves on the scientific committee that defines ALGOL 60. In 1960, he becomes professor of computer science at Grenoble University. With Jean Kuntzmann, he helps establish CETA, the university's machine-translation center.
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1962–1971
A Russian–French system
His CETA team builds the first Russian–French machine-translation system in Grenoble. From 1962 to 1971, he leads GETA in constructing a large second-generation system applied to Russian–French. He also proposes a representational pivot for machine translation.
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1964–1967
ICCL founding and presidency
He helps found the International Committee on Computational Linguistics (ICCL) in 1964–1965. In 1967, he becomes its president and serves through 1984.
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1968
The Vauquois triangle
In 1968, he proposes the Vauquois triangle, a conceptual model for machine-translation system design.
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1970–1975
ARIANE-78 and descriptors
From 1970 to 1975, he uses modular procedural grammars and heuristic methods to improve translation of technical manuals and standardized abstracts. ARIANE-78 includes a built-in revision facility for human revisors. In 1974, he co-founds the Leibniz laboratory and proposes multilevel structure descriptors for translation units larger than sentences.
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1982–1985
Static grammar for ESOPE
During ESOPE in 1982–1983, he develops static grammar as part of the preparatory phase of France's national machine-translation project. In 1985, he and Sylviane Chappuy publish “Static Grammars: A Formalism for the Description of Linguistic Models.” He remains active in machine-translation research and serves as a professor of statistics, then logic, formal languages, and NLP until he dies in 1985.
Career
- From 1974Leibniz LaboratoryCo-founder
- 1964–1984International Committee on Computational LinguisticsCo-founder, President
- 1962–1971GETALeader
- From 1960University of GrenobleProfessor, Co-founder
- 1952–1958CNRSResearcher
Most-cited works
- Revised report on the algorithmic language ALGOL 60With John McCarthy
- Report on the algorithmic language ALGOL 60With John McCarthy
- Revised report on the algorithmic languageAlgol 60With John McCarthy
- Automated translation at Grenoble University
- A survey of formal grammars and algorithms for recognition and transformation in mechanical translation
Sources and credits
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