Jeffrey David Ullman
Also known as Jeff Ullman, Jeffrey D. Ullman, Jeffrey Ullman
Jeffrey David Ullman is a Stanford computer scientist whose influential books have educated generations of computer scientists. His link to AI runs through data mining: the 2014 book Mining of Massive Datasets teaches data mining and machine learning. He began at Bell Labs with Alfred Aho, then joined Stanford in 1979 after teaching at Princeton. He received the Knuth Prize in 2000, shared the 2010 IEEE John von Neumann Medal with John Hopcroft, and was named a 2020 Turing Award recipient in 2021. As of October 2026 he is an emeritus professor of engineering at Stanford and CEO of Gradiance Corp.
Timeline
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1963–1969
Columbia, Princeton and Bell Labs
He receives a Columbia bachelor's degree in 1963 and a Princeton doctorate in 1966. He then joins Bell Labs with Alfred Aho, and their early efforts from 1967 to 1969 include developing efficient algorithms for analyzing and translating programming languages.
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1969–1979
Princeton faculty and database theory
In 1969 he returns to Princeton as an associate professor, and in 1974 he is promoted to full professor. In the late 1970s his interests turn to database systems, and he becomes known as one of the founders of database theory.
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1979–1994
Stanford and the department chair
He joins Stanford in 1979. He chairs the computer science department from 1990 to 1994, and in 1994 he is named the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Computer Science.
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2000–2010
Knuth Prize and von Neumann Medal
He receives the Knuth Prize in 2000. In 2010 he shares the IEEE John von Neumann Medal with John Hopcroft.
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2014
Mining of Massive Datasets
Ullman writes Mining of Massive Datasets with Jure Leskovec and Anand Rajaraman, and the book teaches data mining and machine learning. Cambridge University Press publishes the book online in December 2014.
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2021
The 2020 Turing Award
In March 2021 he and Alfred Aho are named recipients of the 2020 Turing Award. The award recognizes their fundamental algorithms and theory for programming language implementation, and their highly influential books, which have educated generations of computer scientists.
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As of October 2026
Emeritus professor and Gradiance CEO
He is the Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, in Stanford's computer science department, and CEO of Gradiance Corp.
Sources and credits
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