PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

J. C. R. Licklider

Also known as Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, Lick

Licklider was born in Saint Louis in 1915, trained as a psychologist, and turned to computing, where he pictured people and machines as partners in thinking. He was on MIT's faculty from 1949 to 1957 and became a vice president at Bolt Beranek and Newman in 1957. His 1960 paper "Man-Computer Symbiosis" also addresses artificial intelligence. In 1962 he became director of information processing research at ARPA, where his work led to ARPANET. He died in 1990 in Arlington, Massachusetts, and the Internet Hall of Fame inducted him as a Pioneer in 2013.

Works
109
Citations
5,644
h-index
26

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1915–1942

    Training in psychology

    He is born in Saint Louis in 1915. He earns a doctorate in psychology from the University of Rochester in 1942.

  2. 1949–1957

    Human factors on SAGE

    From 1949 to 1957 he is a faculty member at MIT. There he works as a human-factors expert on SAGE, a Cold War air-defense system.

  3. 1957

    Vice president at BBN

    In 1957 he becomes a vice president at Bolt Beranek and Newman. The Franklin V. Taylor Award from the Society of Engineering Psychologists also comes in 1957.

  4. 1960

    Man-computer symbiosis

    In 1960 he publishes "Man-Computer Symbiosis", which outlines the need for simpler interaction between computers and computer users. The paper pictures a partnership in which men set the goals while computing machines do the routinizable work, and it addresses artificial intelligence.

  5. 1962–1963

    Information processing at ARPA

    In 1962 he is appointed director of behavioral sciences and information processing research at ARPA. In April 1963 he sends a memo on the early challenges of a time-sharing network of computers. His work eventually leads to ARPANET.

  6. 1964–1968

    IBM, then MIT again

    IBM takes him on as a research consultant in 1964. In 1968 he returns to MIT as a professor and becomes director of Project MAC.

  7. 1990

    Death in Arlington

    He dies in 1990 in Arlington, Massachusetts.

  8. 2013

    An Internet Hall of Fame pioneer

    In 2013 the Internet Hall of Fame inducts him as a Pioneer for his work formulating the earliest ideas of global networking.

Sources and credits

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  1. J. C. R. Licklider - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Computer Pioneers - Joseph C. R. Licklider history.computer.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Man-Computer Symbiosis groups.csail.mit.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Licklider at the Information Processing Techniques Office, Begins Funding Research that Leads to the ARPANET historyofinformation.com. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. CSAIL Members Inducted into Internet Hall of Fame | MIT CSAIL csail.mit.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.