PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Li Sheng

Also known as 李生

Li Sheng is a computer scientist whose work centers on Chinese-English machine translation and natural language processing. He graduated from Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in 1965, began translation research there in 1985, and helped create CEMT-I, Daya and BT863. At HIT, he held computer leadership posts and directed an NLP laboratory with Microsoft; he also coauthored a computer education study and led the Chinese Information Processing Society of China. He received the Association for Computational Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and is a professor and founder of HIT's Machine Translation Research Laboratory as of October 2026.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1965–1985

    Computer science at HIT

    He graduates from HIT's computer specialty in 1965 and begins Chinese-English machine-translation research there in 1985.

  2. 1985–1988

    A dean role at HIT

    He takes administrative posts at HIT from 1985 and serves as dean of its Computer Department from 1987 to 1988.

  3. 1989

    CEMT-I passes appraisal

    His group develops CEMT-I for Chinese-English technical-title translation; in 1989, it becomes the first Chinese-English machine-translation system to pass China's technical appraisal.

  4. 1993–1994

    Daya and BT863 systems

    In 1993, the National Aerospace Industry Corporation sponsors commercial development of Daya Translation Station after his group's Chinese-English translation work. From 1994, the group develops BT863 for bidirectional Chinese-English translation.

  5. 2004

    Directing an NLP laboratory

    In 2004, he becomes director of HIT's Chinese Ministry of Education–Microsoft Joint Key Laboratory of Natural Language Processing and Speech.

  6. 2011

    CIPSC president and educator

    He becomes president of the Chinese Information Processing Society of China in 2011. He coauthors a 2011 HIT study on a computer education system for top-notch talent.

  7. 2015

    An ACL Lifetime Achievement Award

    The Association for Computational Linguistics gives him its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 for his work in machine translation.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at HIT

    As of October 2026, he is a professor at HIT and founder of its Machine Translation Research Laboratory.

Career

  1. Since 1985Harbin Institute of TechnologyTranslation Researcher, Dean of its Computer Department
  2. From 2011Chinese Information Processing Society of ChinaPresident

Education

  1. 1965Harbin Institute of Technology

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Harbin Institute of Technology. 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.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Harbin Institute of Technology. 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.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Harbin Institute of Technology. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.
  4. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Harbin Institute of Technology. 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.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Li Sheng yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Li Sheng receives 2015 Association for Computation Linguistics Lifetime Achievement Award aclweb.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Li Sheng (computer scientist) en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Teaching Achievement encs.hit.edu.cn. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Joint Training Program encs.hit.edu.cn. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. The Faculty of Computing held a event where "Language and Intelligence Shine and Wisdom Penetrates to the Minute" encs.hit.edu.cn. Checked 20 October 2026.