John F. Sowa
John F. Sowa developed conceptual graphs and wrote about the logical and computational foundations of knowledge representation. Sowa published a 1976 IBM journal paper on conceptual graphs for a database interface. In 1979 he published work on their semantics at ACL and on their definitional mechanisms in a graph grammars volume. He spent thirty years in IBM research and development before early retirement and later startup roles. He designed conceptual graphs, which have a place within Common Logic.
- Works
- 128
- Citations
- 11,025
- h-index
- 30
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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1976–1979
Conceptual graphs for knowledge and language
Sowa published a 1976 IBM journal paper on conceptual graphs for a database interface. In 1979 he published work on their semantics at ACL and on their definitional mechanisms in a graph grammars volume.
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1984–1986
A book and a language interpreter
He published Conceptual Structures: Information Processing in Mind and Machine in 1984. With Eileen C. Way, he published work in 1986 on implementing a semantic interpreter using conceptual graphs. The shared interpreter paper connects representation with language processing.
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1999–2000
Standards and foundations
In 1999, Sowa published a draft proposed American National Standard for conceptual graphs. In 2000 he published Knowledge Representation: Logical, Philosophical, and Computational Foundations. His work covered practical representation formats and the foundations of the field.
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As of October 2026
Industrial research and later work
He spent thirty years in IBM research and development before early retirement and later startup roles. He designed conceptual graphs, which have a place within Common Logic.
Sources and credits
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