PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jan Wielemaker

Jan Wielemaker is a computer scientist whose work connects logic programming with knowledge engineering and web-based tools. He encountered Prolog during an apprenticeship in Edinburgh, became a researcher at the University of Amsterdam in 1985, and started SWI-Prolog there in 1987. His papers describe the system's design and history, and he coauthored SWISH, a browser-based environment for running and sharing Prolog programs. In 2020, he became director of SWI-Prolog Solutions b.v.; in August 2025, he coauthored a paper on GarpN's qualitative and quantitative models. As of October 2026, he is SWI-Prolog's lead developer and the author of Janus, its Python interface.

Now at
SWI-Prolog Solutions b.v.
Born
1960
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. By 1985

    Prolog in Edinburgh

    Before becoming a researcher in 1985, he encounters Prolog during an apprenticeship at the University of Edinburgh's mathematical reasoning group, led by Alan Bundy.

  2. 1985

    Researcher in Amsterdam

    In 1985, after his studies, he becomes a researcher at the University of Amsterdam's SWI department. The department has just acquired the European KADS project.

  3. 1987

    Starting SWI-Prolog

    In 1987, he initiates SWI-Prolog at the University of Amsterdam and continues its development after moving to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

  4. 2010–2012

    SWI-Prolog papers

    In 2010, he coauthors a paper that presents SWI-Prolog as an integrating tool for ideas developed across the Prolog community. In 2012, he publishes a history of the system that argues for sharing and compatibility across Prolog engines.

  5. 2015

    SWISH for web-based Prolog

    In 2015, he coauthors a paper on SWISH, a web front end that lets people run Prolog programs for demonstration, experimentation and education and build queries collaboratively around a dataset.

  6. 2020

    SWI-Prolog Solutions director

    In 2020, he becomes director of SWI-Prolog Solutions b.v., a company that provides services related to SWI-Prolog. He starts the company because the system's development and application-platform work fit poorly in an academic setting.

  7. August 2025

    GarpN model integration

    In August 2025, he coauthors a paper for IJCAI's qualitative-reasoning workshop that presents GarpN, software that translates qualitative representations into quantitative models, runs simulations, and matches the resulting states.

  8. As of October 2026

    Leading SWI-Prolog development

    As of October 2026, he is SWI-Prolog's lead developer and the author of Janus, a bidirectional interface between Prolog and Python.

Career

  1. From 2020SWI-Prolog Solutions b.v.Founder, Director
  2. From 1985University of AmsterdamResearcher
  3. University of EdinburghApprentice

From the biography.

  1. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Amsterdam. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Edinburgh. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes University of Amsterdam. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  4. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Amsterdam. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. SWI-Prolog: history and focus for the future logicprogramming.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Jan Wielemaker en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. SWI-Prolog arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. SWISH: SWI-Prolog for Sharing research.vu.nl. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. SWI-Prolog Solutions b.v. swi-prolog.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Integrated Qualitative and Quantitative Modelling in GarpN research.hva.nl. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. SWI-Prolog Solutions b.v. swi-prolog.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. SWI-Prolog Python interface swi-prolog.org. Checked 20 October 2026.