PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Bertram Raphael

Bertram Raphael contributed to early artificial intelligence through language, robotics, and search. His 1963 paper used LISP to represent relations between words and objects for question answering; his SRI work also helped develop Shakey and A*. He led SRI's Artificial Intelligence Center during the 1970s and led the Shakey project in 1970 and 1971. After a 25-year career as a computer scientist and manager at SRI and Hewlett Packard, he entered travel-agency work in 1990; the business was sold in 1997. As of October 2026, he consults for travel agencies and small businesses on office automation and management systems.

Works
34
Citations
13,680
h-index
12
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1936–1959

    Physics and mathematics degrees

    Born in New York City in 1936, he earns a physics bachelor's degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1957 and an applied mathematics master's at Brown University in 1959.

  2. 1963

    A computer representation for semantic information

    In 1963, his paper describes a computer model of relations between words and objects and uses LISP in a simple question-answering system.

  3. 1964–1965

    Joining SRI's Learning Machine Group

    After working as a consultant for SRI in 1964, he joins its Learning Machine Group full-time in 1965.

  4. 1966–1972

    Developing Shakey

    The Shakey project develops from approximately 1966 through 1972, and Raphael contributes to it; the robot can analyze commands and break them into basic chunks.

  5. 1968

    A* search for shortest paths

    In 1968, Peter Hart, Nils Nilsson and Raphael publish A*, a heuristic search method for finding shortest paths.

  6. 1970s

    Leading SRI's AI Center

    He directs SRI International's Artificial Intelligence Center during the 1970s and leads the Shakey project in 1970 and 1971.

  7. 1990–1997

    Moving into travel-agency work

    After a 25-year career as a computer scientist and manager at SRI International and Hewlett Packard, he enters travel-agency work in 1990; the business is sold in 1997.

  8. As of October 2026

    Consulting on office automation

    He consults for travel agencies and other small businesses on their office automation and management systems.

Career

  1. 1964SRI InternationalConsultant
  2. Hewlett-PackardComputer Scientist and Manager

Education

  1. 1959Brown UniversityMaster's degree in applied mathematics
  2. 1957Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteBachelor's degree in physics

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. A Formal Basis for the Heuristic Determination of Minimum Cost Paths1968 · IEEE Transactions on Systems Science and Cybernetics · 12,697 citationsWith Nils Nilsson and Peter E. Hart
  2. New Programming Languages for Artificial Intelligence Research1974 · ACM Computing Surveys · 184 citationsWith Daniel G. Bobrow
  3. The use of theorem-proving techniques in question-answering systems1968 · ACM National Conference · 115 citations
  4. Thinking Computer: Mind inside Matter1976 · W H Freeman & Co eBooks · 68 citations
  5. The Thinking Computer: Man inside Matter1977 · The American Journal of Psychology · 45 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 32%Includes SRI International. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 32% in 2020–2024.
  2. Stanford University trained or employed 26 of the 108 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Stanford University trained or employed 26 of the 108 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Brown University. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Brown University. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Bertram Raphael yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Oral-History:Bertram Raphael ethw.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Bertram Raphael en.wikipedia.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. A computer representation for semantic information aclanthology.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. Shakey the robot en.wikipedia.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. A* search algorithm en.wikipedia.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. About Bert Raphael raphaelconsulting.com. Checked 18 October 2026.