PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Gerhard Weikum

Gerhard Weikum is a computer scientist whose knowledge-base work underlies AI-based search engines. He earned a doctorate at TU Darmstadt, held professorships at ETH Zurich and Saarland University, and became a scientific member and director at MPI for Informatics in 2003. With Fabian Suchanek and Gjergji Kasneci, he helped create YAGO, whose first release contained millions of entities in 2007 and which received the WWW Test-of-Time Award in 2018. He received SIGMOD's Codd award in 2016 and the Konrad Zuse Medal in 2021; the University of Athens awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2024 for contributions to databases, the web and AI. As of October 2026, he is officially retired and limits his professional activities.

Works
954
Citations
33,592
h-index
86

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1957–1990

    Studying computer science

    Born in Frankfurt in 1957, Weikum studies computer science and earns a doctorate at TU Darmstadt in 1986. Assistant and postdoctoral posts take him to TU Darmstadt, MCC in Austin, and ETH Zurich through 1990.

  2. 1990–2003

    Professorships and MPI leadership

    He becomes a professor at ETH Zurich in 1990, joins Saarland University in 1994, and becomes a scientific member and director at MPI for Informatics in 2003.

  3. 2004–2007

    Building the YAGO knowledge base

    He initiates knowledge harvesting in 2004; joint work with Fabian Suchanek and Gjergji Kasneci leads to the first YAGO release in February 2007, with millions of entities. His knowledge-base work provides a foundation for AI-based search engines.

  4. 2016

    The SIGMOD Codd Award

    In 2016, he receives the SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award for work on automatically constructing large knowledge bases.

  5. 2018

    The WWW Test-of-Time Award

    The WWW Test-of-Time Award recognizes YAGO in 2018.

  6. 2021

    The Konrad Zuse Medal

    In 2021, Gesellschaft für Informatik awards him the Konrad Zuse Medal for his contributions to computer science.

  7. 2024

    An honorary doctorate

    In 2024, the University of Athens awards him an honorary doctorate for contributions to databases, the World Wide Web and artificial intelligence.

  8. As of October 2026

    Officially retired

    As of October 2026, he is officially retired and limits his professional activities.

Sources and credits

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  1. Weikum, Gerhard | Max-Planck-Gesellschaft mpg.de. Checked 14 October 2026.
  2. Gerhard Weikum — 2016 SIGMOD Edgar F. Codd Innovations Award – SIGMOD Website sigmod.org. Checked 14 October 2026.
  3. Gerhard Weikum erhält Konrad-Zuse-Medaille der Gesellschaft für Informatik - Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. gi.de. Checked 14 October 2026.
  4. Homepage: Gerhard Weikum (Max-Planck-Institut für Informatik) people.mpi-inf.mpg.de. Checked 14 October 2026.
  5. Gerhard Weikum: doctor honoris causa - Max Planck Institute for Informatics mpi-inf.mpg.de. Checked 14 October 2026.