PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Pierre Marquis

Pierre Marquis is a computer scientist at Université d'Artois who works on knowledge representation and automated reasoning, with knowledge compilation and explainable AI among the main topics. After a Ph.D. at Université de Nancy I in 1991, they moved to Université d'Artois in 1996 and became a professor there in 1998. With Adnan Darwiche, they published "A Knowledge Compilation Map" in 2002, and from 2020 they coordinated the EXPEKCTATION chair on explainable AI; in 2024 they coauthored the PyXAI library for explaining tree-based models. Recognition includes election as an EurAI Fellow in 2009, a senior membership of the Institut Universitaire de France in 2017, an AAIA Fellowship in 2022 and the CNRS silver medal in 2025. They are a distinguished professor at Université d'Artois and, since December 2024, its Vice-President for Research and Doctoral Studies.

Born
1965
Works
418
Citations
5,019
h-index
31
Badges

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1991–1998

    Doctorate and a move to Artois

    In 1991, they earn a Ph.D. in computer science at Université de Nancy I and take a faculty post (maître de conférences) at the UFR de mathématiques et informatique of Université de Nancy II, doing research with CRIN-CNRS and INRIA-Lorraine until 1996. They move to Université d'Artois in 1996, obtain the habilitation à diriger des recherches in 1997 and become a Professeur des Universités in 1998.

  2. 2002

    A map of knowledge compilation

    With Adnan Darwiche, they publish "A Knowledge Compilation Map" in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research in 2002. The paper compares compilation approaches along two dimensions, the succinctness of the target language and the queries and transformations it supports in polytime, and applies that analysis to a large number of existing target compilation languages.

  3. 2009

    Elected EurAI Fellow

    ECCAI, known today as EurAI, names Pierre Marquis among its seven newly elected Fellows in 2009.

  4. 2017

    Senior member of the IUF

    They join the Institut Universitaire de France as a senior member in 2017, with delegate status there for five years from October 2017.

  5. 2020–2024

    The EXPEKCTATION chair and PyXAI

    Starting in August 2020, the ANR-funded research and teaching chair EXPEKCTATION, which applies knowledge compilation to explainable AI, runs for 48 months with Pierre Marquis as coordinator. In 2024, they coauthor the PyXAI library with Gilles Audemard, Jean-Marie Lagniez and Nicolas Szczepanski, presented at the Thirty-Third International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence; it generates abductive and contrastive explanations for decision trees, random forests and boosted trees.

  6. 2022

    An AAIA Fellowship

    In 2022, the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA) names them a Fellow.

  7. 2025

    A CNRS silver medal

    In 2025, they receive the CNRS silver medal while working at the Centre de Recherche en Informatique de Lens (CRIL).

  8. Since December 2024

    Vice-President for Research at Artois

    In December 2024, they become Vice-President for Research and Doctoral Studies of Université d'Artois, where they are a distinguished professor. Their research at CRIL-CNRS covers knowledge representation and automated reasoning, with a current focus on explainable AI.

Career

  1. Since 1998University of ArtoisProfessor, Vice-President for Research and Doctoral Studies
  2. Since 1991CNRSResearcher
  3. 2017–2026Institut Universitaire de FranceSenior member
  4. 2008–2010Université Lille Nord de France
  5. 1995–1998Université d'Artois
  6. 1991–1996University of Nancy IIMaître de conférences
  7. 1991–1996InriaResearcher
  8. 1991–1996Université de Lorraine

Education

  1. 1991University of Nancy IPh.D.

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. A Knowledge Compilation Map2002 · 607 citationsWith Adnan Y. Darwiche
  2. Propositional Independence - Formula-Variable Independence and Forgetting2003 · Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research · 212 citationsWith Jérôme Lang
  3. Consistency restoration and explanations in dynamic CSPs—Application to configuration2002 · Artificial Intelligence · 185 citationsWith Hélène Fargier
  4. On the merging of Dung's argumentation systems2007 · Artificial Intelligence · 163 citationsWith Sébastien Konieczny
  5. DA2 merging operators2004 · Artificial Intelligence · 161 citationsWith Jérôme Lang and Sébastien Konieczny

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes CNRS. 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.
  2. Universities keep AI researchers for a median of 6 years, compared with 2 years at frontier labsIncludes CNRS. Across 15,811 dated work stays (6,529 people), median role tenure runs from 6 years at universities to 2 years at frontier labs. We compare all five organization types, starting decades from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the organizations that keep people longest.
  3. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes CNRS. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  4. The top 10 organizations employed 22% of people shaping AI in 2025: 51% of company researchers and 21% of university researchersIncludes CNRS. We estimate the share of people shaping AI who worked at the top 10 organizations each year from 1955 to 2025, comparing concentration across companies, universities, and institutes and labs.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. Pierre MARQUIS cril.univ-artois.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. [1106.1819] A Knowledge Compilation Map arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. 2009 ECCAI Fellows Announced! (ECCAI Bulletin #2, July 2009) oldwebsite.eurai.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Pierre MARQUIS cril.univ-artois.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Prix et récompenses (CRIL awards) cril.univ-artois.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. IA explicable à base de compilation de connaissances – EXPEKCTATION | ANR anr.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. PyXAI: An XAI Library for Tree-Based Models | IJCAI ijcai.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Pierre Marquis becomes AAIA Fellow cril.univ-artois.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.