PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Patrick Cousot

Also known as Patrick M. Cousot

Patrick Cousot is a computer scientist who, with Radhia Cousot, gave automatic program analysis a mathematical footing through abstract interpretation, and whose 2026 paper with Jade Alglave describes AI systems as semantic abstractions. He graduated as an engineer in Nancy, earned his doctorates in Grenoble, and held posts at CNRS, the University of Metz, the École Polytechnique and the École Normale Supérieure before joining New York University in 2008. In 1977, he and Radhia Cousot published abstract interpretation at the ACM SIGPLAN-SIGACT Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages, and from 2001 his team at the ENS built the Astrée analyzer, which Airbus used to check the A380's piloting code. His honours include the 2018 IEEE John von Neumann Medal, the 2020 ACM Fellowship and the 2022 EATCS Award, and his textbook Principles of Abstract Interpretation appeared from MIT Press in 2021. He is Silver Professor of Computer Science at NYU's Courant Institute.

Born
1948
Badges

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1971–1978

    Nancy engineering, Grenoble doctorates

    He graduates as an engineer from the École des Mines of Nancy in 1971. He earns a Doctor Engineer degree in computer science in 1974 and a Doctor ès Sciences degree in mathematics in 1978, both from the University of Grenoble.

  2. 1974–1979

    Abstract interpretation with Radhia

    He is a research scientist at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the University of Grenoble from 1974 to 1979. In 1977, he and Radhia Cousot publish their abstract interpretation paper in the proceedings of the ACM SIGPLAN-SIGACT Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages in Los Angeles, a demonstration that places static program analysis on a mathematical footing. They also publish 'Automatic synthesis of optimal invariant assertions: mathematical foundations' in 1977 at the ACM Symposium on Artificial Intelligence & Programming Languages in Rochester.

  3. 1979–1997

    Metz, then École Polytechnique

    He holds an appointment at the University of Metz from 1979 to 1984. At the École Polytechnique from 1984 to 1997, he develops the computer science teaching and creates and heads the research laboratory LIX.

  4. 1991–2008

    ENS appointment and the Astrée analyzer

    He is appointed at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris in 1991, where he directs the computer science education and leads research on abstract interpretation and semantics. Development of the Astrée static analyzer starts from scratch under him in November 2001 at the ENS computer science laboratory, and by 2008 Airbus uses Astrée to verify the absence of arithmetic exceptions in the A380's piloting code.

  5. 2008

    Silver Professor at NYU

    He is appointed at New York University in 2008 and is Silver Professor of Computer Science at its Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He is also a 2008 Humboldt Research Award recipient.

  6. 2013–2022

    Prizes from SIGPLAN to EATCS

    With Radhia Cousot, he receives the ACM SIGPLAN Programming Languages Achievement Award in 2013 and the IEEE Harlan D. Mills Award in 2014. He receives the IEEE John von Neumann Medal in 2018, is named a 2020 ACM Fellow for contributions to programming languages through the invention and development of abstract interpretation, and wins the 2022 EATCS Award.

  7. 2021

    Principles of Abstract Interpretation

    He publishes the textbook Principles of Abstract Interpretation with MIT Press in September 2021. The textbook sums up his life's work.

  8. As of October 2026

    AI systems as semantic abstractions

    He is Silver Professor of Computer Science at NYU's Courant Institute and teaches Honors Programming Languages in fall 2026. In July 2026, he and Jade Alglave post the paper 'Ceci n'est pas une pipe: AI systems as semantic abstractions', which proposes a semantic framework for describing AI systems and examining the correctness of their output representations.

Career

  1. Since 2008Courant Institute of Mathematical SciencesSilver Professor of Computer Science
  2. 1991–2008École Normale Supérieure
  3. 1984–1997École Polytechnique
  4. 1979–1984University of Metz
  5. 1974–1979CNRSResearch Scientist

Education

  1. 1978University of GrenobleDoctor ès Sciences
  2. 1974University of GrenobleDoctor Engineer
  3. 1971Nancy School of MinesEngineer

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 Patrick Cousot. 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. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes New York University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes New York University. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.
  4. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes New York 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.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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

  1. Patrick Cousot - POPL 2016 popl16.sigplan.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  2. Patrick Cousot - Engineering and Technology History Wiki ethw.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  3. P. Cousot & R. Cousot, Abstract interpretation: a unified lattice model for static analysis of programs by construction or approximation of fixpoints cs.nyu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  4. P. Cousot & R. Cousot, Automatic synthesis of optimal invariant assertions: mathematical foundations cs.nyu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  5. AbsInt - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  6. Program verification through abstract interpretation | Collège de France college-de-france.fr. Checked 22 October 2026.
  7. Patrick Cousot's Home Page at NYU: Short biography cs.nyu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  8. NYU Computer Science Department News & Events: 2020 ACM Fellow cs.nyu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  9. The EATCS Award 2022 - Laudatio for Patrick Cousot eatcs.org. Checked 22 October 2026.
  10. Patrick Cousot's Home Page at NYU cs.nyu.edu. Checked 22 October 2026.
  11. Ceci n'est pas une pipe: AI systems as semantic abstractions arxiv.org. Checked 22 October 2026.