PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

David G. Hays

David G. Hays was a computational linguist whose work included machine translation, formal linguistic theory, and corpus linguistics. He earned a sociology PhD at Harvard in 1956 and worked at RAND, where he described a code-matching routine in 1963 and published the first computational linguistics textbook in 1967. He served as president of the Association for Computational Linguistics and founding chairman of the International Committee on Computational Linguistics, and taught at SUNY Buffalo, where he chaired the linguistics department. He later worked independently as a writer, consultant, and researcher until he became ill, and died in 1995.

Works
103
Citations
1,433
h-index
13
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1955–1968

    Research at RAND

    At RAND, he works as a social scientist from 1955 to 1968 and contributes to machine translation, formal linguistic theory, and corpus linguistics. He earns a sociology PhD at Harvard in 1956.

  2. 1963

    A code-matching syntax test

    In 1963, he describes a connectability-test routine that uses code matching.

  3. 1964–1969

    Leading two language associations

    He serves as president of the Association for Computational Linguistics in 1964 and as founding chairman of the International Committee on Computational Linguistics from 1965 to 1969.

  4. 1967

    A computational linguistics textbook

    In 1967, he publishes Introduction to Computational Linguistics as the first textbook in the field.

  5. 1968–1980

    Professor at SUNY Buffalo

    At SUNY Buffalo, he becomes a professor of linguistics, computer science, and information and library studies in 1968; he holds these posts through 1980. He chairs the Department of Linguistics from 1968 to 1970.

  6. September 1974

    Editing a journal issue

    He edits the September 1974 issue of the American Journal of Computational Linguistics.

  7. 1980

    Independent work after Buffalo

    From 1980 until he becomes ill, he works as an independent writer, consultant, and researcher.

  8. 1995

    Death in 1995

    He dies in 1995.

Career

  1. 1968–1980University at Buffalo, State University of New YorkProfessor, Chair
  2. 1965–1969International Committee on Computational LinguisticsFounding Chairman
  3. 1955–1968RAND CorporationSocial Scientist

Education

  1. 1956Harvard UniversityPhD

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

Most-cited works

  1. Dependency Theory: A Formalism and Some Observations1964 · Language · 603 citations
  2. Uniquely human: The evolution of speech, thought, and selfless behavior1992 · Journal of Social and Evolutionary Systems · 142 citations
  3. Introduction to Computational Linguistics1967 · Medical Entomology and Zoology · 117 citations
  4. GROUPING AND DEPENDENCY THEORIES1960 · 85 citations
  5. Color Term Salience1972 · American Anthropologist · 70 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 19 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Harvard University. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  2. Stanford University trained or employed 20 of the 89 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Harvard 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.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes RAND Corporation. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI from 1961 to 2025, with a year-by-year chart.
  4. 44% of AI career moves go from one university to anotherIncludes Harvard University. We estimate how 14,272 AI career moves link universities, companies, labs and government research centers, with net flows and the most common paths.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of David G. Hays yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Committee Members | ÚFAL ufal.mff.cuni.cz. Checked 19 October 2026.
  2. Connectability calculations, syntactic functions, and Russian syntax - ACL Anthology aclanthology.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  3. Introduction to computational linguistics | Catalog Search Results | IUCAT Bloomington iucat.iu.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.
  4. American Journal of Computational Linguistics (September 1974) - ACL Anthology aclanthology.org. Checked 19 October 2026.
  5. August 31, 1995: Vol27n1: Obituaries buffalo.edu. Checked 19 October 2026.