PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Louis Hodes

Louis Hodes was a mathematician and computer scientist who worked on early Lisp and applied pattern recognition to cancer research. With John McCarthy, he helped produce early Lisp implementations and contributed programs and suggestions to the LISP I Programmer's Manual in 1960. At MIT, he earned a Ph.D. in 1962 under Hartley Rogers. In 1966, he moved into cancer-related research at the National Institutes of Health and later applied visual pattern recognition to medical imaging at the National Cancer Institute. He published on geometric complexity in 1969 and logic and linear inequalities in 1972, developed an NCI chemical-clustering model in 1981, and died in 2008.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1950s

    Early Lisp and pattern recognition

    A mathematician and computer scientist, he helps produce early Lisp implementations with John McCarthy in the late 1950s and early 1960s; under Marvin Minsky, he researches visual pattern recognition in Lisp. In 1960, he contributes programs and suggestions to the LISP I Programmer's Manual as a member of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Group.

  2. 1961

    Machine processing of line drawings

    He publishes the M.I.T. Lincoln Laboratory report “Machine Processing of Line Drawings” in March 1961.

  3. 1962

    A Ph.D. at MIT

    At MIT, he earns a Ph.D. in 1962 under Hartley Rogers.

  4. 1966

    Cancer research and imaging

    In 1966, he moves into cancer-related research at the National Institutes of Health and later the National Cancer Institute. He applies visual pattern recognition to medical imaging and works on efficient algorithms to screen chemical compounds for chemical carcinogenesis.

  5. 1969

    Geometric complexity at STOC

    His paper “The Logical Complexity of Geometric Properties in the Plane” appears in the 1969 STOC proceedings.

  6. 1972

    Logic and linear inequalities

    In 1972, he publishes “Solving problems by formula manipulation in logic and linear inequalities” in the journal Artificial Intelligence.

  7. 1981

    A chemical clustering model

    In 1981, he develops a clustering model for the National Cancer Institute's Developmental Therapeutics Program repository. The model measures chemical novelty by comparing structures with known compounds.

  8. 2008

    Death in 2008

    He dies in 2008.

Career

  1. From 1966United States Department of Health and Human ServicesResearcher
  2. Until 1960Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMember

Education

  1. 1962Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPhD

From the biography.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Massachusetts 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 Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Massachusetts 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.
  3. Google had the most people shaping AI every year from 2014 to 2025Includes Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our estimates of which organizations employed the most people shaping AI each year from 1955 to 2025, tracing the shift from university labs to companies.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Massachusetts 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.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Louis Hodes - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. LISP 1.5 family softwarepreservation.computerhistory.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. BibSLEIGH — The Logical Complexity of Geometric Properties in the Plane bibtex.github.io. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Solving problems by formula manipulation in logic and linear inequalities - MaRDI portal portal.mardi4nfdi.de. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. DTP History - NCI dctd.cancer.gov. Checked 20 October 2026.