PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Rose Dieng-Kuntz

Rose Dieng-Kuntz was a Senegalese computer scientist who applied AI to knowledge acquisition, expert systems, and semantic web search. She studied at École Polytechnique and Télécom Paris, joined Inria in 1985, and led ACACIA from its start in 1992. Her teams developed semantic web algorithms and SEWESE; she co-published a book on knowledge management and received the 2005 Irène Joliot-Curie Prize. She led EDELWEISS, received France’s Legion of Honor in 2006, and died in 2008.

Works
122
Citations
999
h-index
17

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1976–1980

    Studying at Polytechnique

    Born in Senegal, she enters École Polytechnique in 1976 as the first African woman admitted. She graduates from Télécom Paris in 1980 and later earns a computer science doctorate.

  2. 1985

    Joining Inria

    After early experience at Digital Equipment Corporation, she joins Inria in 1985.

  3. 1992

    Leading ACACIA

    She leads the ACACIA project at Inria Sophia Antipolis from its 1992 founding. The team builds knowledge-acquisition tools for expert-system design and compares experts’ knowledge through conceptual graphs.

  4. 1999–2000

    SEWESE and semantic search

    In 1999, her team develops intelligent models and algorithms to extract, formalise, and process web data. By 2000, ACACIA has developed SEWESE, a conceptual resource search engine.

  5. 2005

    A knowledge-management book

    She co-publishes Knowledge management - Méthodes et outils pour la gestion des connaissances with Olivier Corby, Fabien Gandon, and Alain Giboin. She receives the Irène Joliot-Curie Prize in 2005.

  6. 2006

    A Legion of Honor

    France names her a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honor in 2006.

  7. 2006–2008

    Leading EDELWEISS

    In 2006, ACACIA becomes EDELWEISS. She leads the renamed team through 2008.

  8. 2008

    Death in 2008

    She dies in 2008 after years of work in artificial intelligence, knowledge management, and the semantic web.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Rose Dieng-Kuntz yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. École Polytechnique: Female alumni portraits polytechnique.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. 72 women scientists honoured on the Eiffel Tower, including two graduates of IMT Technological Universities imt.fr. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. Portrait:Rose Dieng : fin 20ème siècle : Notion d'objets numériques wiki.inria.fr. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Rose Dieng-Kuntz : savoir, mémoire et partage interstices.info. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. AVAILABILITY OF SOFTWARE FREE OF CHARGE www-sop.inria.fr. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Rose Dieng-Kuntz (1956 – 2008), pionnière du Web sémantique et de l’intelligence artificielle ax.polytechnique.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. Témoignages pour Rose Dieng www-sop.inria.fr. Checked 15 October 2026.