PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

John Nerbonne

Also known as John A. Nerbonne

John Nerbonne is an American computational linguist who served as president of the Association for Computational Linguistics in 2002 and developed algorithms that measure pronunciation differences between dialects. After a PhD in linguistics at Ohio State University in 1984, he worked at Hewlett-Packard Labs and at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence before becoming a professor of computational linguistics at the University of Groningen in 1993. His approach of combining computational linguistics with dialectology, from a 1997 paper with Wilbert Heeringa to the Gabmap web application in 2011, became known as the Groningen School. Elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005, he received the Alexander von Humboldt Prize in 2012 and was appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion in 2014. Emeritus at Groningen since 2017, he is an honorary professor at the University of Freiburg and became a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association in 2024.

Born
1951
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1951–1984

    Degrees at Freiburg and Ohio State

    Born in Boston in 1951, he earns an M.A. in Germanic philology at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg in 1979. In 1984, he completes an M.Sc. in computer and information science and a PhD in linguistics at Ohio State University, with a thesis titled German Temporal Logic supervised by David Dowty.

  2. 1985–1993

    Hewlett-Packard Labs and DFKI

    He joins Hewlett-Packard Labs in Palo Alto in 1985, where he supervises linguistic work as a member of technical staff, and is an adjunct professor in linguistics and symbolic systems at Stanford from 1985 to 1990. From 1990 to 1993, he is a project leader at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Saarbrücken.

  3. 1993–2017

    Professor in Groningen

    In 1993, he becomes professor of computational linguistics and chair of humanities computing at the University of Groningen, with a secondary appointment in computer science. He directs the Center for Language and Cognition Groningen from 1999 to 2012 and supervises over 30 dissertations. He gives his valedictory address in January 2017 at the 30th-anniversary celebration of his department and retires in July 2017.

  4. 1997–2011

    Measuring dialect distance

    In 1997, he and Wilbert Heeringa publish “Measuring Dialect Distance Phonetically” at the third meeting of the ACL Special Interest Group in Computational Phonology. In 2011, he and colleagues describe Gabmap, a web application for dialectometry developed by an Information Science team at the University of Groningen, in the journal Dialectologia. His algorithms for measuring pronunciation differences are applied to Dutch, German, Norwegian, American English and other languages, and his approach of combining computational linguistics with dialectology becomes known as the Groningen School.

  5. 2002

    President of the ACL

    He is elected president of the Association for Computational Linguistics in 2002 and gives his presidential address to the ACL in July 2002. During his presidency, Aravind Joshi receives the first ACL Lifetime Achievement Award.

  6. 2005–2014

    Honours and a Freiburg professorship

    He is elected to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in 2005, wins the Alexander von Humboldt Prize in 2012, and serves as president of the European Association for Digital Humanities from 2012 to 2014. After two fellowship stays at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, he is appointed honorary professor by the University of Freiburg's Senate in December 2013. In April 2014, he is appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

  7. September 2024

    An AI association fellowship

    In September 2024, he becomes a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association.

  8. As of October 2026

    Honorary professor in Freiburg

    In April 2023, he teaches a Freiburg workshop on quantitative methods for measuring the differences between language varieties. Emeritus at Groningen since July 2017, he is an honorary professor at the Philological Faculty of the University of Freiburg.

Career

  1. Since 2013University of FreiburgFellow, Honorary Professor
  2. Since 1993University of GroningenProfessor of Computational Linguistics; Chair of Humanities Computing; secondary appointment in Computer Science, Director
  3. 2012–2014European Association for Digital HumanitiesPresident
  4. 1990–1993DFKIProject leader
  5. 1985–1990Hewlett-PackardMember of technical staff
  6. 1985–1990Stanford UniversityAdjunct Professor

Education

  1. 1984Ohio State UniversityM.Sc., PhD
  2. 1979University of FreiburgM.A. in Germanic philology

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Freiburg. 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.
  2. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes Stanford University. 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.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes University of Freiburg. 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.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Freiburg. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. John Nerbonne - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Affiliations and Honors let.rug.nl. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. John Nerbonne | EADH - The European Association for Digital Humanities eadh.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Alumni Updates | Department of Linguistics linguistics.osu.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Measuring Dialect Distance Phonetically - ACL Anthology aclanthology.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. About | Gabmap gabmap.let.rug.nl. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Royal Decoration for John Nerbonne | News articles | University of Groningen rug.nl. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Honorary Professorship for External Senior Fellow John Nerbonne — Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies – FRIAS frias.uni-freiburg.de. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. John Nerbonne let.rug.nl. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Hermann Paul School of Linguistics hpsl-linguistics.org. Checked 20 October 2026.