PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jan van Santen

Jan van Santen is a speech and language researcher who applies computational methods to clinical communication. He earned an M.A. in Amsterdam and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Psychology at Michigan before moving from image processing to speech technology at Bell Labs. At the Oregon Graduate Institute, he led the Center for Spoken Language Understanding and applied spoken-language technology to autism and Parkinson’s disease. A 2021 study he coauthored used machine-learning methods to score children’s expressive-language tests. ISCA named him a Fellow in 2025 for his clinical speech work; as of October 2026, he is the center’s director and BioSpeech’s founder, chief scientist, and board chair.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1974–1984

    Degrees and visual research

    He earns an M.A. from the University of Amsterdam in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1979. Until 1984, he works on human visual perception and image processing at Bell Labs and New York University.

  2. 1986–2000

    Text-to-speech at Bell Labs

    From 1986 to 2000, he works on spoken-language technology at Bell Labs, focusing on text-to-speech synthesis and quantitative prosody modeling. In 1998, he coauthors a paper titled Description of the Bell Labs Intonation System.

  3. 2000–2001

    Directing CSLU at OGI

    In 2000, he moves from Bell Labs to the Oregon Graduate Institute and becomes director of the Center for Spoken Language Understanding. OHSU acquires the institute in 2001.

  4. 2004

    Childhood apraxia research

    In 2004, he describes a project on childhood apraxia of speech as part of CSLU’s move to develop speech technologies for health problems.

  5. 2012

    Clinical speech applications

    By 2012, he applies spoken-language technology to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

  6. 2021

    Automated language assessment

    In 2021, he coauthors a study that uses machine-learning methods to score four expressive-language tests automatically, with 83–99% item-level accuracy.

  7. 2025

    An ISCA Fellowship

    In 2025, ISCA names him a Fellow for his work and leadership in clinical speech technologies for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative conditions.

  8. As of October 2026

    CSLU director and BioSpeech founder

    As of October 2026, he is director of OHSU’s Center for Spoken Language Understanding and BioSpeech’s Founder, Chief Scientist, and Board Chair.

Career

  1. NowOregon Health & Science UniversityDirector
  2. NowBioSpeechFounder, Chief Scientist and Board Chair
  3. 2000–2001Oregon Graduate InstituteDirector
  4. 1986–2000Bell Labs
  5. Until 1984New York University

Education

  1. 1979University of MichiganPh.D. in Mathematical Psychology
  2. 1974University of AmsterdamM.A.

From the biography.

  1. 23% of people shaping AI who left a university for a company later returned to a universityIncludes Jan van Santen. We estimate that 468 of the 2,011 people shaping AI who left a university for a company (23%) later returned to a university after a median of 5 years, and 163 of 829 (20%) made the reverse round trip.
  2. Universities keep AI researchers for a median of 6 years, compared with 2 years at frontier labsIncludes AT&T. Across 15,811 dated work stays (6,529 people), median role tenure runs from 6 years at universities to 2 years at frontier labs. We compare all five organization types, starting decades from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the organizations that keep people longest.
  3. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes AT&T. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.
  4. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes AT&T. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Jan van Santen yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Jan van Santen, Ph.D. | OHSU People | OHSU ohsu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Colloquium Details cs.uoregon.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. DESCRIPTION OF THE BELL LABS INTONATION SYSTEM – Illinois Experts experts.illinois.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Apraxia of speech in children is focus of new OHSU grant eurekalert.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Automated Scoring of Tablet-Administered Expressive Language Tests frontiersin.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. ISCA Fellows 2025 wa.isca-speech.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. About – BioSpeech biospeech.com. Checked 20 October 2026.