PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

David C. Cooper

David Cooper advanced early computer science through work on program verification and automated theorem proving. He earned his BSc and PhD at University College London in 1952 and 1955, then joined Swansea as its first Professor of Computation in 1967. There he formed a program-verification group, taught computation theory with Roger Hindley, and served in IJCAI leadership. His papers treat mechanical program verification and a decision procedure for arithmetic with addition. In 1973, he moved to a chair at University College London, where he had studied.

Works
30
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 1952–1955

    Degrees at University College London

    He earns a BSc in 1952 and a PhD in 1955 at University College London.

  2. 1967

    Swansea's first professor of computation

    In September 1967, he joins Swansea as its first Professor of Computation after three years at Carnegie Institute of Technology.

  3. 1968

    A course and research group

    In 1968, he and Roger Hindley teach final-year Pure Mathematics students a full-year course in the mathematical theory of computation. In September 1968, he creates a Science Research Council-funded group in programming theory and program verification.

  4. 1968–1971

    Europe chair at IJCAI

    He serves as IJCAI Europe chair in 1969 and program chair for IJCAI-71; he serves as a trustee from 1968 to 1971.

  5. 1969

    Leading two departments

    After Computational Services and Computer Science split into two departments in 1969, he leads both.

  6. 1971

    Programs for mechanical program verification

    In 1971, he publishes “Programs for mechanical program verification” in Machine Intelligence 6.

  7. 1972

    Theorem proving in arithmetic

    In 1972, he publishes “Theorem proving in arithmetic without multiplication” and describes an early computer procedure for deciding first-order arithmetic formulas based on addition.

  8. 1973

    A chair at University College London

    In December 1973, he leaves Swansea for a chair at University College London, where he had studied.

Career

  1. From 1973University College LondonProfessor
  2. Until 1967Carnegie Mellon University
  3. 1967–1973Swansea UniversityProfessor of Computation

Education

  1. 1955University College LondonBSc, PhD

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  2. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  3. The median h-index is 53 at universities and 19 at frontier AI labsIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. The median h-index is 53 at universities and 19 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, citations and moves to estimate how universities and frontier labs contribute to AI research.
  4. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Carnegie Mellon University. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. The Computer Revolution and Us: Computer Science at Swansea University from the 1960s · Swansea University Centenary 2020 · Swansea University Digital Collections collections.swansea.ac.uk. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Reminiscences · History of Computing Collection · Swansea University Digital Collections collections.swansea.ac.uk. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Other Former Officers | IJCAI ijcai.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. An Introduction to the Theory of Linear Integer Arithmetic (Invited Paper) drops.dagstuhl.de. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. Decidability Results for Fragments of First-Order Logic via a Symbolic Model Property drops.dagstuhl.de. Checked 19 October 2026.